


The Glow of Their Necklaces

by TheEmeraldGirl23



Series: The "Glow" [1]
Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm just obsessed with the ship now, POV Third Person Omniscient, Soulmate Necklaces, Word Count: Over 40.000, based on canon events, this is just a totally random idea I came up with walking around one day and I just went with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 44,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24648985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmeraldGirl23/pseuds/TheEmeraldGirl23
Summary: In a world where you are given a necklace to wear at birth, two halves make a whole. You have one half and your soulmate has the other. Atsuko “Akko” Kagari always believed in love and wore her necklace all the time, but her soulmate, that’s a different story. She goes to Luna Nova to become a witch and meets someone who’s a little different from everyone else.Or the Diakko soulmate necklace AU no one wanted.
Relationships: Barbara Parker/Lotte Yanson, Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Hannah England/Amanda O'Neill, Ursula Callistis | Chariot du Nord/Croix Meridies
Series: The "Glow" [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782148
Comments: 34
Kudos: 183





	1. Going to Luna Nova

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spells are bolded
> 
> Disclaimer: Little Witch Academia does not belong to me and I'm getting no monetary gain out of writing this, this is all just for fun. Little Witch Academia, their characters, world, and events belong to Studio Trigger, Yoh Yoshinari, and their respective teams. I'm just using them in my story because that's what fanfiction is in essence. I hope you enjoy reading, The "Glow" Series.

"It's my first day going to magic school, " Akko said while twirling around at the train stop in the town. 

She walked around the town for a while asking where the bus stop was, but no one seemed to know. She decided to sit down on a bench by the edge of town. She looked down at her map and back up and saw the place where she was supposed to go, so she got up and took her bag and suitcase and started running up to the bus stop, but she suddenly bumped into someone and all of her things fell out of her bag. The girl she bumped into got up and cast some sort of spell on her stuffed bird. 

“Woah, puppet magic, I’ve never seen it up close before,” Akko said as she looked at it. 

The bird suddenly poked her in the eye. The girl just walked away. She covered one of her eyes and jumped back and fell over the bridge into the lake. She was all soaked but she got out of the lake and gathered all her stuff. She walked the rest of the way up the hill to the bus stop. She saw three people with Luna Nova uniforms, so this must be the correct spot. They were talking about a non-magical student coming to Luna Nova. 

“I sure hope the bus comes soon,” Akko said. 

They just started laughing at her. 

“ So you’re the one, you sure are stupid,” one of the students said, she had auburn hair. 

“This is a broom stop, The Leyline is the only way to get to Luna Nova, magic has been flowing through this terminal since ancient times,” the student with black hair said. 

**“Tia Freyre,”** all of them said in unison. 

Their brooms started going up and they got transported into a portal that most likely led to Luna Nova. Akko didn’t have a broom and even if she did, she wouldn’t know how to fly it. She decided to try and climb up the vines on the side of the leyline to try and get inside but ended up falling. She got up and saw a girl trip over. 

“Why did my parents pack all this stuff for me?” She muttered under her breath. 

Akko walked up to her and gave her her hat back. 

“Thank you,” She said as she gathered up her stuff and went on her broom. 

“Tia Frey…” she was about to say but then looked over to see her pouting. 

“You know if you’re late to the opening ceremony, you’ll be expelled right?” She asked and Akko nodded looking even sadder than before. 

“Do you need a ride?” she asked. 

Akko nodded and got her stuff and got the back of her broom. 

“You’ve restored my faith in witches….” She said trailing off. 

“Oh, I’m Lotte,  **Tia Freyre** ,” she said and the broom started lifting off into the portal. 

“I don’t think I’m ready for this!” Akko yelled. 

“Too late for that,” Lotte yelled back at her. 

“Oh, I’m Atsuko Kagari, you can call me Akko,” Akko said as the broom started swerving in the portal. 

“That’s nice and all, but do you have any salt on you? The leyline really doesn’t like salinity, Lotte said. 

Akko brought out a jar of pickled plums that were in her bag. 

“Like these?” She asked. 

“What are those?” Lotte asked back. 

“Pickled plums,” Akko said. 

“Throw them away,” Lotte yelled as she tried to control the broom. 

She was about to throw them away but her precious Shiny Chariot card fell out of her coat. 

“My treasure!” Akko yelled out in worry, looking back as it floated away. 

Lotte started losing control of her broom even more and all the luggage fell off of it, Akko also fell. She fell back and basically bumped heads with the girl she met earlier. She fell off her broom too and they all fell into this unknown forest, but luckily all their belongings were there, including Akko’s precious Shiny Chariot Card, which landed on her head. 

“We’ve arrived at our destination,” The girl that Akko had bumped into said. 

“This is Luna Nova? Then where is the ceremony? Is it up ahead?” Akko asked. 

“I don’t think that’s where we are,” Lotte said. 

“The Forest of Arcturus,” the girl with mauve hair said. 

“The Forbidden Forest,” Lotte said. 

“Never heard of it,” Akko said. 

“It’s said only the most powerful of witches have any chance of getting out,” the girl she didn’t know said ominously. 

“What?” Akko asked worriedly. 

“Come over here girls,” the still unknown girl said. 

Akko noticed that she was wearing a necklace that was shaped like the left half of an almost full potion flask. It is said that your soulmate wears the other half of the necklace and it glows brighter the closer you are to them and it grows fainter the further away you are. When you find each other, you just know. 

“Rope?” Lotte questioned. 

She cast a spell and suddenly Lotte and Akko were trapped in a ball of rope. She looked at Lotte’s necklace and it had the right half of a book, she couldn’t quite make out what it was though. 

“Recite this spell,” the girl outside said. 

“Will it help us?” Akko asked. 

**“Kutchura Katela Flala,”** she said simply. 

She tried to cast the spell, but she fumbled over her words. She said the spell again and told her to use her diaphragm. 

**“Kutchura Katela Flala,”** Akko yelled at the top of her lungs. 

Suddenly a giant chicken-like thing came out of the bushes and headed straight for them. Lotte and Akko pushed on the ball and it started rolling. 

“ It’s a cockatrice, the poison in its feathers are highly sought after by poison collectors, watch out for its heavy breath, it can turn you to stone,” the girl said, flying above it and pulling out a feather. 

“ That would’ve been nice to know before,” Akko said as she started rolling faster to avoid its breath. They ran into a tree and the ball broke. They almost fell off of the cliff, but luckily Akko grabbed a branch with one hand and Lotte with the other. 

“Are you okay?” I asked. 

“I don’t think I can make it, my knee,” Lotte said. 

“We can make it,” Akko said as she climbed up with Lotte. 

Akko kept climbing up the hill with Lotte in her arms, reciting what Shiny Chariot had said at the beginning of her show that she had watched as a kid. They got to the top of the hill and saw a wand. 

“It’s the Shiny Rod, I would recognize that wand anywhere,” Akko said. 

She lifted it out of the ground and took it with her. Akko left Lotte to rest by a tree so she could go take care of that thing.

“Hey, come over here,  **“Kutchura Katela Flala,”** Akko yelled. 

The cockatrice started chasing Akko and luckily she got under it, it got trapped in the mandrake’s vines. She heard someone call out to her. 

“Do you need a ride?” The girl from earlier asked. She also had Lotte with her, which was a relief. 

Akko got onto the broom and they flew off. 

“Thank you…” Akko trailed off. 

“Oh, Sucy, Sucy Manbavaran,” she said. 

“Thank you, Sucy,” Akko said. 

They were flying and Akko looked back to see the cockatrice break free of the vines, it started flying and blowing fire. 

"It blows fire?" Akko asked as she started to blow at the end of the broom. 

It kept going and suddenly they fell off of the broom. Akko clutched the Shiny Rod as she was falling when she heard someone say, 

" Cast the spell, " 

**"Noctu, "**

**"Noctu, "** Akko repeated. 

**"Orfei, "**

**"Orfei,"** Akko said. 

**"Aude, "**

**"Aude, "** Akko said. 

**"Fraetor,** " They both said in unison.

**"Shiny Arc, "** Akko said as she pulled back the rod that turned into a bow. 

The arrow turned into a portal and they went through it. They ended up directly at the opening ceremony. All the other witches looked at them, surprised. 

"We made it, " Akko said. 

The ceremony finished and a teacher took Akko personally to her room. 

"You're only here because the principal gave you special consideration, so please stay out of trouble, " she said. 

She guided her the rest of the way to her room and opened the door. 

"Here are your roommates, " she said. 

Akko walked into the room and saw Lotte and Sucy. The teacher shut the door and walked away. 

"Hey, I'm Akko, treat me well, " She said with a huge smile on her face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please correct my mistakes. This was originally written in first person with a POV switch, like The Marks of Their Future and Yours, Truly, but then I changed it to third person, so there might still be little evidence of first-person, feel free to correct me if you see them, I won't be offended. I take all criticism, good or bad.


	2. The One Without A Necklace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics represent thoughts, but they do also say, ______thought after it, so it should be obvious.

Akko was sitting in class, almost drifting off at how boring it was. 

"Is there anyone who can translate this text off the board, " the professor asked.

"I can, Mrs. Finnelan, " a student behind her said as she stood up.

_ “So that's the professor's name, I'll never have any interest in a class taught by someone with that kind of name.”  _ Akko thought.

"Of course, it's you, Diana, " the professor said. 

Akko heard her as she read off the board. She looked down only to notice that her necklace was glowing really bright, it was shaped like half a small Chariot card. 

_ “I guess that’s really on point for me.”  _ She thought. 

"That's correct, you're the first one to know what this means, as expected of a Cavendish, " the professor said. 

Akko looked behind her and she sat down. She looked back at the professor and tried to pay attention but ended up just putting her head down. She didn't perk back up until the bell rang. It was time for lunch. She walked to the lunchroom and sat with her plate of mashed potatoes next to Lotte and Sucy.

"Who knew that class was so boring, I can't believe that Shiny Chariot took these classes, " Akko said, stretching her arms up. 

"You really idolize her, huh?" Lotte asked.

"Yeah, she's the one who inspired me to become a witch, " Akko said. 

Suddenly a girl with platinum blonde and green hair walked up to her, she had two other girls with her, two of the ones Akko saw at the leyline. 

"Miss Kagari is it? You're new here right, " the girl said.

" Anyway, Shiny Chariot's is a has-been, her magic is nothing more than cheap parlor tricks, " she continued. 

"Just call me Akko, You're the one who read the letters on the board, earlier, right? " Akko asked as she swallowed her food. 

"You really don't know who Diana is?" The auburn-haired girl asked. 

"She is a witch from a well-known and renowned family, the heiress to the Cavendish’s," the one with black hair said. 

Akko looked over and saw that Lotte's necklace was glowing really bright and so was her’s. She looked back up at the girls and saw that the one with black hair's necklace was also glowing brightly, She couldn't make it out very well but it also looked like half of a book. 

"Well anyway, you shouldn't look up to her, " Diana said. 

"What did you say?" Akko asked as she got up and walked towards her. 

"I said, you shouldn't look up to Shiny Chariot, " she repeated. 

"Chariot was a great witch and I can look up to whoever I want, plus what’s all this high and mightiness coming from someone who doesn’t even wear her necklace, " Akko said, pointing to her neck. 

"For your information, I don't wear it because I don't care about silly things like soulmates, they're a waste of time, " She said pointing back at Akko. 

Akko got closer and lunged toward her. Lotte got up to try and break them up, but couldn’t. Akko kept trying to have a go at Diana, but she just kept evading her, and eventually, Akko fell forward, but surprisingly Diana had caught her and brought her back to a standing position. 

"You didn't let me fall, " Akko said dumbfounded. 

"I might think you're not worth my time, but the Cavendish's believe in saving everyone, friend or foe, " she said. 

"Well, thank you, " Akko said, going back to sit down. 

"Wait, " she said, grabbing her wrist. 

"What?" Akko asked, turning back around. 

“Why do you believe in soulmates?” Diana asked.

“Why is that any of your concern?” Akko shot back. 

“It’s nothing, just forget it,” Diana said, shaking her head. 

"Okay, then, let me go, " Akko said. 

She let her go and she walked back to the table. 

“Well, that was weird,” Akko said. 

“Why did you even do that in the first place?” Lotte asked. 

“Can’t I defend what I believe?” Akko asked back. 

“Yeah, I guess so, but she’s  _ the  _ Diana Cavendish,” Lotte said. 

“I don’t get why someone’s status matters,” Akko said. 

“Well, you can’t just go do something like that to the top student of Luna Nova,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, that was pretty stupid,” Sucy chimed. 

“Something like that doesn’t matter to me, who they are matters more than their status,” Akko said. 

“Wow! You actually said something quite smart,” Sucy quips. 

“I’m capable,” Akko shot back. 

“You should try that hard in class then,” Lotte commented. 

“Whatever, let’s just go,” Akko said. 

They got up and threw their plates away. Akko walked out of the café and went to class. It was just a boring day of boring subjects that she could care less about. The most exciting part of her day was probably when she met Diana. They shared almost all their classes together but Akko just couldn’t be bothered to give anything today. The bell rang and she got up to go back to her dorm. The day finally ended. Akko started walking out of the classroom, but she felt a hand grab her wrist. She turned around to see Diana’s platinum blonde and green hair and blue eyes. 

"Diana, what do you want?" Akko asked.

"I'm just letting you know, you should try harder here, Luna Nova is a strict school, " she said. 

"I came here to become a witch and that's what I intend to be, " Akko said. 

"If that's so, you clearly aren't doing a good job, " Diana said. 

"I don't need you to tell me what I'm doing good or not, " Akko said. 

"I just thought I would give you some friendly advice, heed it or not, " She said. 

"I thought you said I'm not worth the time, " Akko said.

"Okay, I just thought…" She trailed off. 

"Well, you thought wrong, just let me go, " Akko said.

"Don't blame me if you fail, " She said as Akko walked out. 

"Maybe I will, " Akko shot back. 

Akko didn't hear her say anything else so she finally went back to her room. 

_ “That was weird. Why did she say that? She wouldn't care about someone like me, maybe she was just trying to give me friendly advice, but more importantly, why did my heart feel like it was beating out of my chest?”  _ Akko thought. 

She stepped inside and saw her teammates. 

“Today was weird,” Akko said. 

“That’s one way to put it,” Lotte said. 

“You need to learn when to hold back, Akko,” Sucy said. 

“That’s just not who I am, though,” Akko responded. 

“Yeah, you do seem like the type to headfirst into something without thinking,” Lotte said. 

“Sheesh, I do think before acting sometimes,” Akko said. 

“Sometimes?” Lotte questioned. 

“I guess you do make a point,” Akko said dejectedly. 

“You are certainly going to be a handful,” Akko’s teammates said in unison. 

“I’m starting to think you’ll never be on my side,” Akko said. 

“We’re just telling you the truth, don’t worry, we’re your friends now and your teammates, just look at the ribbon on your uniform and hat,” Lotte said. 

Akko looked down to see a red ribbon tied around her waist and looked up back at Lotte and Sucy to see the same color ribbons. 

“ Yeah, you guys are my friends,” Akko said with a smile and hugged Lotte and Sucy. 

“Too tight,” Sucy said in a struggle. 

“Sorry,” Akko said, letting go of them. 

“Let’s get some sleep, heavens knows you need it,” Sucy said. 

“What? Are you implying that I just fall asleep in class?” Akko asked, upset. 

Sucy just shrugged her shoulders, so Akko went and changed back into casual clothes and laid down on her bed. She looked over at the Shiny Rod next to her and thought,

_ “This year is going to be crazy.”  _


	3. Trying to Fly and Failing Miserably

It was the day after Diana had met Akko and she was outside flying on her broom. She was racing with a particular American girl, Amanda O'Neill. They raced several times and she beat her, but it was close every time. 

"Good job, you two, " the coach said. 

"Well, I am the best at flying, " Amanda said with confidence. 

"You are certainly fast, but not the best, " Diana shot back. 

"What did you say to me?" Amanda asked, getting all up in her face. 

Suddenly there was a loud sound and she saw Akko. 

"Oww, " She said. 

"What are you doing?" Diana asked, walking up to her with her arms crossed.

_ “My heart is pounding. Why am I feeling like this? I don't even believe in soulmates, I'm supposed to marry Andrew Hanbridge from Appleton. Why of all people, did it have to be this dense, clumsy, Japanese girl that comes from a non-witch family?”  _ Diana thought. 

"What does it look like?" She asked, upset. 

"It looks like you're failing at flying, " Diana said. 

"You don't need to rub in my face, you stuck up little princess, " She said. 

_ “Ouch, that kind of hurt.”  _ Diana thought. 

"Ooh, she called you out Diana, " She heard Amanda say from behind her. 

Amanda walked up to them and extended a hand to Akko. 

"Here, let me help you up, " Amanda said. 

Akko grabbed her hand and she pulled her up. 

"Oh, I'm Amanda by the way, " She said.

"Thank you for helping me, I'm Atsuko, you can call me Akko, " Akko said. 

She got back on her broom to try again. 

"You're trying again?" Diana asked. 

"Yeah, A believing heart is my magic, " She replied. 

"You really love Chariot, don't you?" Diana asked. 

"Yep, but how do you know that quote?" Akko asked. 

"Um, I've read a lot of books that reference that quote, mentioning Chariot, " Diana said. 

"Oh, okay, " she replied. 

She had nothing else to say, so Akko recited the spell. 

**"Tia Freyre, "**

Nothing happened. 

_ I kind of feel bad for her. Wait, no, I shouldn't, it's her fault in the first place. What the heck am I thinking?”  _ Diana thought.

The broom just fell, Akko along with it. 

"Why can't I fly?" She asked. 

"Maybe you're not trying hard enough?" Diana replied. 

"But I am, I'm trying the hardest I can, " She groaned.

"As expected from someone from a non-witch family, " Diana whispered. 

She seemed to have heard her because she replied.

"What do you mean? I have just as much potential as everyone else here, " She exclaimed as she got up and started walking closer pointing at her. 

Diana was surprised and stumbled back. 

"Wow! Never expected someone like you to have the guts to stand up to Diana, twice in fact, and what, it's only like your second day? " Amanda asked shocked. 

"Well, she's acting quite pretentious, I'm just a new kid starting out, " Akko replied. 

"What are you saying? You're the one being disrespectful to a member of the esteemed Cavendish family, " Diana replied, maintaining a proper tone. 

"Well,  _ excuse me _ for not knowing who you are, I came from halfway across the world to study here, " Akko said.

"If you traveled this far just to be a witch, then become a proper one, " Diana said.

"You're one to talk, you probably don't even need to be here, " Akko proclaimed. 

"You're right, I chose to be here, to further my studies of magic, I'm way ahead of the curriculum anyway, " Diana said. 

"You just had to be, little miss perfect, " Akko said in a mocking tone. 

"Hey, that is no way to talk, " the professor interjected before she could defend herself. 

"Who are you to tell me the way I can talk?" Akko asked unknowingly, then realizing and looking up at the coach now with a wide-eyed expression. 

"That's it, you now get to put the brooms back into the shed after class, " the coach said sternly. 

"I guess that's karma, " Diana said. 

"You little…" She trailed off. 

"Yeah, don't finish that sentence, " Diana said as she walked away with her broom. 

Diana went for a few more laps around the school and Amanda was there too, she always passed her but they still maintained a neck and neck pace. The coach blew a whistle and they landed their brooms. She looked at Akko and she looked bruised and hurt on the ground. 

_ “I guess she never got up in the air,”  _ Diana thought, a little disheartened. 

"Okay, you guys are all free to go, " the coach said. 

Diana started walking to class as she heard the coach call for Akko. 

_ “That's what she deserves for calling me a stuck up princess and, little miss perfect,”  _ Diana thought.

_ “That damn Diana, why does she have to act like that? No wonder I have to be rude, she's being so stuck-up, can't she be just a little nicer?”  _ Akko thought.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the coach called for her. She believed her name was Nelson, but she couldn't really hear over everybody else talking. 

"As you know you have to stay back and clean up all the brooms if you're late to class just say Coach Nelson told you to put away brooms, they'll understand, " she said. 

"Okay, sounds easy enough, " Akko said. 

"Then get to it, " the coach commanded, blowing her whistle. 

Akko started to pick up the brooms, She was able to pick up five at a time, they were pretty light. She put them up in the shed and was careful as so not to break any of them. She made a few trips between the field and the shed to put away the rest of the brooms. She grabbed her bag and headed to class. She got to class but was a couple of minutes late. 

"Ms. Kagari, why are you late?" Professor Lukić asked. 

_ “That's what I recall her name being, anyway.”  _ Akko thought.

"I had to put away brooms for Coach Nelson, " Akko said. 

"On your second day? You're certainly going to be a problem child, not even Amanda up there had to put up the brooms until her fourth day, " the professor said pointing to the American, sitting with her legs on the desk. 

"You didn't have to call me out like that, professor, " Amanda said. 

"Well, sit down, so we can get started, " the professor said. 

Akko went to sit down next to Sucy and Lotte and she looked behind her to see Diana and her two teammates. She looked back at the professor and started taking notes. 

_ “Diana's the only one that makes me want to pay attention to any of my classes. I want to beat her so bad. I wonder why I feel like this.”  _ Akko thought. 

The professor talked the whole time and Akko just took notes. She stopped writing and turned around to face them.

"That's it for today, you'll be making your first potion on Friday, " the professor said. 

The bell rang and she walked to her last class of the day, Astronomy and Astrology with Professor Ursula. She was Akko’s favorite teacher. 


	4. Astronomy and Astrology With Professor Ursula

Akko sat down at her usual seat at the bottom left of the auditorium-like classroom. 

“Hello, class, today we will be learning more about the constellations,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Like the Big Dipper and stuff?” She asked. 

“Yes, exactly, Akko, but please refrain from making outbursts and raise your hand,” Professor Ursula said. 

She heard someone snicker behind her but she just listened to the lecture. 

_ “ Professor Ursula is definitely the most interesting of my teachers and she isn’t an old fart like they are.”  _ Akko thought. 

She cast a spell and a night sky appeared on the ceiling. 

“This is a replication of how the night sky usually looks, you can make out many constellations, especially here at Luna Nova,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Wow!” everyone said, looking up, astonished. 

Professor Ursula brought down her wand and the scene disappeared and the ceiling went back to normal. 

“So what did you see in the stars?” Professor Ursula asked. 

Akko raised her hand. 

“Yes, Akko?” Professor Ursula asked.

“Well, I saw both of the dippers and some of the zodiac constellations,” I responded. 

“Yes, they were there, anyone else?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“Oh, Lauren,” Professor Ursula said. 

“There was the pegasus constellation,” She responded. 

“Yep, there are also more than just those, but those are good examples,” Professor Ursula said. 

Professor Ursula goes to the board and starts drawing what I could only assume were more constellations. She walked away from it to reveal a galaxy drawn on it. 

“You don’t have to draw this, this is just a visualization,” Professor Ursula said. 

She started talking about the drawing and pointing to the different constellations and talking about their significance. She pointed out the zodiac ones and asked, 

“What is the importance of these?” Professor Ursula asked. 

Akko looked behind her to see that Diana was raising her hand. 

“Yes, Diana,” Professor Ursula responded. 

“The zodiacs can tell a lot about someone’s personality and the way they act, someone’s alignment with the stars can tell a lot about who they are,” She answered. 

“Wow! Yes, that is a really good way to put it,” Professor Ursula said. 

She erased the board and wrote notes about the different zodiacs on the board. She continued her lecture and Akko made it a point to pay attention. 

_ “Maybe I should look up more about my zodiac, it could be good to see.”  _ Akko thought. 

Suddenly, the bell rang. 

“Oh, I guess time flies by, you guys are free to leave,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko got up and was about to leave when she heard Professor Ursula call out to her. 

“Hey, Akko, Can you stay behind for a few minutes?” She asked. 

She turned around and walked up to her. 

“Sure, what do you need?” Akko replied. 

“I know you’re not doing the best in your classes, so I thought, maybe I could give you some extra guidance,” She said. 

“ What? I know I’m not a perfect student like Diana, but I’m trying!” Akko exclaimed. 

“Yes, I am aware, I’m just saying, maybe you could use some help with your magic,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I guess I could use some help in that department,” Akko said, defeated. 

“Okay, then see you later,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Oh, I have a question, what can I do about my necklace?” Akko asked. 

“In what regard?” Professor Ursula replied. 

“You know, the glowing,” Akko said, pointing to her necklace. 

“To be truthful, none of the professors really care about the glowing, if anyone truly cares it’s the wearer, so you don’t have to cover it up,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Well, then, what’s yours?” Akko asked. 

“I don’t think you need to know that, at the moment,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Okay, then, see you later,” Akko said, waving to her as she left the classroom. 

_ "Oh, Akko, you have so much to learn, "  _ Professor Ursula thought. 


	5. Dinner With the Teams

Now that classes were finished for the day, Akko decided to go to the café. She might have to suffer through the starchiness of potatoes every day, but at least it’s something. She grabbed a plate of potato wedges and sat down with the other members of her team, Lotte and Sucy. 

“ How was your day?” Lotte asked. 

“It was good, but why do you need to ask, you sit next to me for almost all of them,” Akko said. 

“Well, I don’t know what goes on in your head,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, and you actually paid attention,” Sucy said. 

“Yeah, it was a sight,” Lotte said. 

“What do you know? We’ve only known each other for a couple of days,” Akko said. 

“You can learn a lot about someone, even in just a couple of days, and we’re your teammates and roommates,” Lotte said. 

“I guess that’s true,” Akko said. 

“You know, these potatoes got old really quick,” Sucy said. 

“I know, can’t this school afford some more variety or something?” Akko asked, exasperated.

“I feel the same way, but you know we can’t just go and steal,” Lotte said. 

“I understand,” Akko said dejectedly. 

“See we do know you, and even though you say that, you’re going to try anyway,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, you’re  _ that  _ reckless and stupid,” Sucy said. 

“What? No, I’m not,” Akko said, clearly kind of frustrated. 

“Are you sure about that? Just look at yourself,” Sucy said. 

“Yeah, you are kind of clumsy and it’s hard for you to keep your attention,” Lotte said. 

“Oh, come on, I thought you were my friends,” Akko said. 

“We are, it’s just hard to ignore, especially with all the bruises,” Lotte said. 

“And your tendency to nod off in class,” Sucy said. 

“My gosh, you guys are no help,” Akko said, putting her head on the table. 

“I didn’t mean for it to come off like that,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, I know, it’s just the fact that I hate that you’re both right,” Akko said, lifting her head back up. 

“Wow! You’re actually admitting that fact,” Sucy said. 

“Don’t make me take it back,” Akko said in a threatening voice. 

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Sucy said in a sarcastic voice, throwing up her hands. 

“Yeah, even with that voice you’re not that scary,” Lotte said. 

“What the heck guys? I thought you were on my side,” Akko said. 

“We are, that’s why we’re telling you all this, now finish your potatoes,” Lotte said. 

“Okay,” Akko said. 

Meanwhile, at the blue team’s table, Diana was deep in her own thoughts, spacing out, glancing at the brunette at the other side of the room. She was brought out of her thoughts by her friend Hannah calling her name. 

“Hey, Diana, earth to Diana,” Hannah called out, moving a hand in front of her face. 

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something,” Diana said, turning back to them. 

“Must be something important, you rarely ever space out,” Hannah said.

“No, it’s nothing of the sort,” Diana responded.

“If you say so, anyway, what do you think about that new transfer student?” Hannah asked.

“Which one?” Diana asked. 

“The one over there,” Hannah said, pointing to the brunette at the other side of the room. 

“Who? Akko? she sure is interesting, to say the least,” Diana said. 

“I guess that’s one way to put it, she came here knowing she has virtually no talent for magic, ” their other friend Barbara said. 

“And, she’s from a non-witch family, I can’t believe that Luna Nova is letting in students like that,” Hannah said. 

“That may be true but your magic comes from the inside, even someone like Akko can be able to learn it,” Diana said. 

“You’re defending her? I thought you said you didn’t care,” Hannah said. 

“That doesn’t mean I don’t believe that she’s capable,” Diana said. 

“She’s going to have to try extremely hard if she thinks she’s ever going to be even half as good of a witch as you are Diana,” Hannah said. 

“That’s for sure,” Barbara agreed. 

“Can we please stop talking about this? Let’s just go,” Diana responded as she stood up and shook the dust off her uniform. 

She threw her plate away and started walking out of the café. Hannah and Barbara followed by her side. After they left, Akko had finished her potatoes and she and the rest of the red team also went to their dorm. 

“Today was a long day,” she said from her bunk. 

“Sure was,” Lotte said from the top bunk. 

“Let’s just go to sleep,” Sucy said from her bed. 

So that’s exactly what they did. 


	6. Something New Emerges From Something Old

It has now been a couple of weeks since Akko started at Luna Nova. She still struggled in many of her classes but her extra training with Professor Ursula has helped slightly. She was in the courtyard with her for early morning magic practice. 

**“Metamorphie Faciesse,”** Akko cast. 

It was supposed to turn the bunny in front of her into a cat, but she got turned into a mouse. 

“That’s actually really good,” Professor Ursula said. 

“But I wanted to turn that bunny, not me,” Akko said from her mouse form before transforming back into a human again. 

“You’re still very new to magic, it’s going to take some time,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I know, it’s just frustrating,” Akko said. 

“Try it again, you can’t give up so easily,” Professor Ursula said. 

“You’re right, I wouldn’t be me if I just gave up,” Akko said with determination. 

**“Metamorphie Faciesse,”** She cast again. 

This time she turned into a flying elephant. She started floating up to the sky but hit something pointy, which allowed her to deflate back into a human. 

“What the heck? Why can’t I do this right?” Akko asked. 

“Are you focusing on what your intention is?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“What do you mean?” Akko asked, confused. 

“You have to picture what you want, clearly in your mind,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I am, I picture the bunny turning into a cat, but it just backfires on me,” Akko said. 

“You have to focus on what you want, keep practicing with it, I’ll see you later,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Okay, see you later professor,” Akko said. 

She put her wand back in its holster and walked to the café to get breakfast. It was sweet potato pancakes. She grabbed her plate and went to sit next Lotte and Sucy. 

“Good morning, we were waiting for you, where were you?” Lotte asked. 

“I have extra magic practice with Professor Ursula,” Akko responded. 

“Oh, is it helping at all?” Lotte asked.

“Yeah, it’s helping, but it’s still difficult,” Akko said. 

“Just keep practicing and you do seem to be getting slightly better with your metamorphosis magic,” Lotte said. 

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Akko said. 

“You  _ do  _ seem to be getting a little better at magic, but flying is a different story,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, I just can’t seem to get off the ground,” Akko said. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually,” Lotte said. 

“Thanks,” Akko said. 

They finished eating breakfast and headed to class. They had Magic Linguistics with Professor Finnelan. She doesn’t like students like Akko because her behavior isn’t like that of a witch of Luna Nova in her eyes, but Diana, on the other hand, is her vision of the perfect student and a role model for others. She was teaching about the Luna language, the same one that only Diana was able to understand in the beginning. This was Akko’s toughest class, she had to try extremely hard, especially because Professor Finnelan wasn’t particularly fond of her. She kept nodding off in class, despite her best efforts to stay awake. She went from class to class and kept trying with her spells. They got her nowhere, but she just kept trying, after all, a believing heart is her magic. She was sitting in the courtyard after school, with her Chariot cards and the Shiny Rod tied to her ribbon. Diana, on the other hand, heard that The Jennifer Memorial Tree was dying, so she went to see it. She saw the leaves falling off the tree, so she cast a restoration spell in hopes that it would repair it, but it just made the tree worse. Akko heard an earthquake type of rumbling and went to see what it was. It led her to the tree, where she saw Diana standing next to the trunk. The roots were growing, exposing things from the ground. 

“Get away from here,” Diana said, looking back to see the trio getting blocked by a root. 

“Diana? Do you know why this is happening? What are these things?” Akko asked. 

“It looks like pupa to me,” Sucy said. 

“Are you sure?” Akko turned back to ask Sucy. 

“And they’re not just ordinary ones,” Sucy continued. 

“There were parasites growing from the roots, that has to be why the tree was dying,” Diana said. 

“Then all the spell did was give nutrients to these vermin, they have to be stopped,” She continued. 

**“Murowa,”** she cast. 

It destroyed one of the pupae. 

**“Murowa,”** she cast again. 

This time destroying more at once. Akko looked in surprise as Diana kept casting the spell which destroyed more of the pupa. She cast a spell which destroyed the one Akko was standing in front of, she looked at it and had a moment of realization which led her to step in front of another one that Diana was about to shoot to block it. 

“Hold on, they might not be bad,” Akko said. 

“You’re in the way, move,” Diana said. 

“Make me,” Akko defended. 

She hesitated and tilted her wand to hit another one, but Akko being who she is, ran to it and blocked it, which led the spell to hit her instead of the plant. She got shocked and fell to the ground. Diana looked concerned and horrified as Akko’s Chariot cards fell out of her uniform when she fell. 

“Akko!” Lotte yelled out as she and Sucy ran up to her. 

Lotte lifted her head up. 

“Hey, Akko, wake up,” Lotte said. 

“I didn’t mean to,” Diana said, concerned, as she also got by Akko’s side. 

“She got hit pretty hard by that spell, she doesn’t look so good,” Sucy said as Akko squirmed in Lotte’s hands. 

“Pappiliodya,” Akko said with her eyes closed. 

She opened her eyes and sat up. 

“I think those things are its pupae,” she continued. 

Diana looked surprised behind her and Lotte grabbed the card off the ground. 

“Here,” Lotte said, handing the card to Akko. 

“Pappiliodya hatches once every one hundred years and is said to give hope to anyone who gazes upon it,” She said with more awareness. 

She looked over at the Shiny Rod which was glowing. Everybody looked at it with astonishment.

“Hey, try casting the spell on the card,” Lotte said. 

“The Pappiliodya spell?” She questioned, then nodded her head in confirmation. 

She picked up the Shiny Rod with the support of Lotte and Sucy behind her. She tried casting the spell but stumbled over the words. 

“The spell is actually,  **Papillio Fillio Nymphodya** ,” Diana said from beside them. 

“That’s how you pronounce it?” Akko asked, looking over at Diana. 

She plainly nodded. 

“Thanks a lot,” Akko said. 

“The magic butterfly, Pappiliodya, spread your wings and fly, give us hope,  **Papillio Fillio Nymphodya** ,” She cast, holding the Shiny Rod up and striking it down, a magic blast coming out from the top and hitting all the pupae. 

It revived the ones Diana had hit and allowed those and the rest of them to hatch into beautiful butterflies. They looked in disbelief at the Pappiliodya as they flew up and away. Professor Ursula was reading about them in the library before hearing a student say, 

“Hey look out there,” 

She looked up from her book and looked through the window to see the Pappiliodya flying outside, all the other students were looking at them too, they were as astonished as Akko, Lotte, Sucy, and Diana were. Akko and the rest of her team had already left, leaving Diana to admire the tree in it’s repaired state. Headmistress Holbrooke along with Professor Finnelan, Hannah, and Barbara walked in to see the tree as well. 

“The Memorial Tree, it’s back to its old self,” Headmistress Holbrooke said from behind. 

“It’s because of the spell Diana used,” Hannah said to the headmistress. 

“Thank you, Ms. Cavendish,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

“That’s very kind of you, but it wasn’t me who did this,” Diana said walking up to them. 

“There’s no one else who could’ve done this besides you,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“Well, I… please excuse me,” Diana said as she walked away looking down. 

“That girl is so humble, the pride of our school,” Headmistress Holbrooke commented as Diana walked out of the tree room. 

Diana walked outside and stopped at the bridge, she looked up to see the flying Pappiliodya, still very astonished at the sight. She also saw Sucy and Lotte riding on their brooms with Akko waving from the back of Lotte’s broom. 

_ “This girl is really going to be the death of me someday, not to mention the bright glowing of her necklace and how my heart races when I’m near her,”  _ Diana thought, shaking her head before walking back to her dorm. 


	7. The Broom Relay

Akko had finished her broom lessons and went back inside. She saw the case of people who had won Luna Nova’s Broom Relay Race in the past, Shiny Chariot among them. Although she couldn’t even fly, she vowed that she would win the Broom Race so that her picture could be next to Shiny Chariot’s. Lotte was having her broom fixed, so she asked Akko if she wanted to go to the shop where it was. 

“Hey, my broom is getting repaired, I was going to go see if it was finished, want to come?” Lotte asked. 

“Mhm,” Akko nodded. 

They walked into town. 

“A broom would’ve gotten us here faster,” Akko said. 

“The magic of the sorcerer’s stone only travels so far, it doesn’t reach the town,” Lotte said. 

“So you said this place was a magical item café, right? What does that mean?” Akko asked. 

“It’s an all-purpose magic store that sells many items, they even have tea,” Lotte said. 

They got to the shop, it was named _Last Wednesday Society_ and had many various items on display. They walked in and the shopkeeper greeted them. 

“I was wondering if my broom was ready,” Lotte said as she handed the shopkeeper a ticket. 

“Yeah, it should be, wait here,” the shopkeeper said as he went to the back. 

Akko just looked around at all the different items. She heard a rattling noise and looked back to see a broom. She walked up to it and Lotte followed behind her. 

“A broom?” Akko questioned. 

“It looks so familiar,” Lotte said. 

She turned to see a newspaper article hanging up beside the broom. 

“It’s the legendary broom Shooting Star,” Lotte said. 

“I’ve never heard of it,” Akko said. 

“Long ago, there was once a witch who flew across the Pacific Ocean using this broom, it flew without the need of the sorcerer’s stone, it made its own magical energy,” Lotte told. 

“A broom with its own magic power, dibs,” Akko said as she grabbed the bars of the cage holding the broom in place. 

Suddenly, the shopkeeper emerged. 

“Hey, keep your hands off of that, it’s off-limits,” he said. 

Akko took her hands off of it and turned around to face the shopkeeper. He handed Lotte her broom. 

“For real?” Akko asked. 

“Yeah, that thing is just too dangerous to ride, it’ll just keep going, even if you fall off of it, but this lock here keeps it in place, if it ever got out, the boss would not be happy,” the shopkeeper said. 

“So it goes super fast?” Akko asked. 

“I heard it goes faster than a speeding bullet,” the shopkeeper said. 

“Great! Let me borrow it,” Akko said. 

“Akko!” Lotte said with disdain. 

“If I had it, not only would I be able to fly, I might even be able to win the broom relay, I only need it for a day,” Akko said. 

“You can’t be serious,” the shopkeeper said. 

“As a matter of fact, I’m very serious,” Akko shot back. 

“Don’t be silly, there’s nobody alive who can ride that crazy thing, Diana’s going to win the broom relay this year without a doubt,” the shopkeeper said. 

“In this author’s humble opinion, the most favorable rider this year is Diana Cavendish,” Lotte read from the newspaper on the table. 

“Huh,” Akko said in confusion and disappointment.

Little did they know that Amanda was sneaking in the shadows, witnessing the whole exchange. 

“So they legendary broom, huh,” she said from the shadows. 

They went back to Luna Nova and Akko was walking through the halls just ranting. 

“Everybody is just rooting for Diana, don’t they know that I’ve also got a chance at winning?” Akko huffed. 

Professor Ursula appeared behind her. 

“Akko?” she asked. 

Akko turned to face her. 

“ Professor Ursula,” Akko said. 

“You can’t ride a broom yet, right? This might be of use to you,” Professor Ursula said, handing Akko a book. 

She looked at the book, it’s title reading _My First Broom Ride_. 

“I know it looks a little childish, but it’s a great resource for people starting out,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I’m going to study this all night, thank you, professor,” Akko said. 

She ran off with the book back, waving back at Professor Ursula, leaving her with a surprised expression. Akko went to the courtyard and started reading the book. 

“All brooms need a good cleaning, make sure to use your broom to clean regularly, and communicate with it to let it know who the rider is,” She read. 

She grabbed her broom and started sweeping with it. 

“Good job, broom,” Akko said, giving it affirmations. 

She mounted it and cast the spell, 

**“Tia Freyre,”**

Nothing happened, so she continued to try different tactics, but nothing she tried worked. Sucy and Lotte showed up to watch. 

“She really is an idiot,” Sucy told Lotte. 

“Sucy! We can’t win if you keep making fun of me,” Akko said. 

“You know, I really don’t care about the race, right?” Sucy asked. 

“But you’re competing too, we’re on the same team,” Akko said. 

She walked up to them with the registration form in hand. 

“I already registered us,” Akko said. 

“Well, I’ll just forfeit,” Sucy said, turning her head. 

“You can’t do that, we have to win, so our picture can be next to Chariot’s,” Akko said. 

“Oh, it says here, that the winner gets a trophy and a prize from Professor Lukić,” Lotte said. 

“Which professor is that one again?” Akko asked. 

“You know, the one for Magic Pharmaceutics, the one we make potions for,” Lotte said. 

“Ohh, her, I wonder what the prize is,” Akko said. 

Sucy was now very intrigued by this, so she and Lotte tried different methods to get Akko to fly, such as bungee jumping with her broom off the New Moon Tower, shooting her out of a cannon with it, and tying a rope between Sucy’s broom and Akko’s as an effort to try and get her off the ground, but nothing worked and when she tried to do it on her own, she failed as miserably as the first time she tried to fly, but she knew she couldn’t dwell on this because the race was right around the corner. 

* * *

“We will soon begin the 1,333rd Luna Nova Cup Broom Relay, in addition to earning prestige for themselves, the winning team will also receive a special prize from our very own Professor Lukić, ” Headmistress Holbrooke announced. 

The racers lined up at the starting line with their brooms. Coach Nelson shot off the gun and everyone cast **Tia Freyre** but only Lotte started going, everyone else was stuck due to a potion that Sucy poured on their brooms. Wangari, the announcer, started announcing what was happening. Lotte was in first but Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger, who was on Amanda's team, was close behind with her machine powered broom, she soon powered ahead of Lotte to take first place. She passed the ring onto Jasminka Antonenko who was her other teammate. Lotte was close behind and passed the ring to Sucy. Jasminka got caught off course due to a path of donuts hanging on the trees, food was her weakness after all. Amanda was trying to wrangle the Shooting Star inside the New Moon Tower, while Sucy passed the ring onto Akko. Akko poured a potion onto her broom which made it turn into a frog jump broom, which just hopped. The rest of the people finally got free of Sucy's plant potion and also started the race. They were trying to catch up as Akko was now leading, she was calmly leaping about on her broom when she got knocked down by The Shooting Star. It boomeranged back to her and she caught onto the chain. She was knocked off of it a couple of times, but she still held on, she was able to ride it, but it led her astray. She flew through a house, the forest, the snow, the ocean, high enough to where a plane and the birds fly, but she hit the birds and fell off the broom, luckily she felt a hand grab her wrist and look up to see Diana. She brought Akko down to the ground. 

“Thank you, Diana,” Akko said. 

“I’ve now repaid my debt to you,” Diana said from her broom. 

“Debt?” Akko questioned. 

“You have scratches and bruises all over you, call for a rescue party, you won’t be able to finish the race,” Diana said before flying off. 

_“Maybe she does care, anyway, I’ve come so far, I can’t just give up now,”_ Akko thought. 

She was reminded of the legendary broom she was on and looked up to see it. She was close to the fields of the school, so she went to grab the cannon she was shot out of earlier, and went and shot herself up to grab the broom. She got back on the course and now was right behind Diana. Amanda was trailing behind them, but she got disqualified for not completing the ring pass. Diana and Akko were neck and neck closing in on the finish line, but in the last seconds, The Shooting Star got free of its chain and flew off, leaving Akko without a broom to ride, and Diana and the blue team as the winners with Akko in second. Diana looked at her picture in the case and thought, 

_“Akko sure is determined, she kept going even with the odds against her, she reminds me of me in some ways,”_

Professor Ursula appeared behind her. 

“Congratulations on your win, I’m surprised Akko got second, considering her inexperience,” She said. 

“I was surprised as well, at least she’s not lacking in enthusiasm and determination,” Diana said before walking back to her dorm with a hand on her hip. 

This left Professor Ursula to look at the picture of Shiny Chariot. 

“She sure has a lot to learn, but maybe one day,” Professor Ursula said to herself, before also leaving to go back to her room. 


	8. Night Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the title is basically a rip-off of episode 4, but I couldn't think of anything else. This chapter is kind of filler, but it's to highlight Lotte and Barbara's like for Night Fall, even if just a little nod to it.

The red team is in trouble. Remember earlier when they said Akko would steal even though she said she wouldn't? Well, she went and stole a tart from the kitchen and managed to get Lotte and Sucy also roped in, so now they're standing in Professor Finnelan’s office, Professor Ursula and Professor Badcock also happened to be there.

"Of course it’s you three, stealing pies from the kitchen now, are we? How did you even manage to eat a whole pie in one go? As students here, you should be ashamed,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“What we took was a tart, not a pie,” Akko said. 

“Just let it go,” Lotte said. 

“They’re two different things,” Akko said to Lotte. 

“Yes they are and if these three are admitting to stealing a tart, not a pie, they should know that those cost three times as much,” Professor Badcock said. 

“Professor Badcock, let’s not discuss finances here,” Professor Ursula said. 

“You stay out of this Professor Ursula,” Professor Badcock said. 

Professor Ursula just stood back and let Professor Badcock continue. 

“I can’t believe how gluttonous you three are, Luna Nova is in financial hardship, so having to overspend on food makes it worse,” 

“We did it because we’re tired of the fact that we have potatoes every day, it’s too much starch,” Akko said. 

“Well, if you eat that many potatoes, you’re sure to get full,” Professor Badcock said. 

“Potatoes get digested too quickly for that,” Akko talked back. 

“That’s quite enough, you should know better than to talk back to your professors,” Professor Finnelan interjected. 

“Now, since tomorrow is when produce is delivered, your punishment is to unload the food supply, in addition, you’ll take extra classes with Professor Ursula,” Professor Finnelan continued. 

“No! Stop please wait, anything but that, I take any other punishment, I have to be able to go into town tomorrow, I promise I’ll do anything you ask me to, so please let me go into town tomorrow,” Lotte pleaded. 

“Absolutely not! You three a hereby grounded,” Professor Finnelan stated. 

Lotte was basically petrified. They exited the office and went to the courtyard, but Lotte wasn’t responsive. 

“What’s wrong with her?” Akko asked, waving a hand over her face. 

“Dunno,” Sucy said. 

“Is there something going on tomorrow?” Akko asked. 

That seemed to knock Lotte out of whatever trance she was in as she responded, 

“Yes, there is, the newest edition of Night Fall is having a release party,” Lotte said, as she shoved a poster into Akko’s face. 

“Night Fall, huh? Sucy?” Akko questioned. 

“I’ve heard of it,” Sucy said. 

“If you didn’t know, it’s a popular series of novels that has fans all over the world,” Lotte said. 

She went on to tell them about the novel and what it was about. She was really into it, but then got dejected because she now couldn't go. 

“She must be pretty upset,” Sucy said. 

“I feel bad for her,” Akko said. 

“You know this is your fault, right?” Sucy asked. 

“Huh? What do you mean, my fault?” Akko asked. 

“If you hadn’t stolen that tart in the first place, Lotte would’ve been able to go into town,” Sucy said. 

Akko stood up and looked like she had an idea. 

“I know,” She voiced. 

They went back inside and back to their dorm. Lotte was sitting at the desk. 

“Hey, Lotte! I just came up with a great plan,” Akko said. 

* * *

Akko had unloaded the last bag of potatoes off the truck. 

“They ordered too many potatoes, again,” Akko said, as she carried the bag to the storage area. 

“Is that all of them?” Sucy asked. 

“Yep, this is the last one,” Akko said, as she put it down. 

She stretched her hands up and Sucy said, 

“Let’s get going,” 

“Thanks, for the help,” The truck driver said as she got back into the car. 

“No problem, see you,” Akko said. 

Lotte and Sucy were about to close the doors in the back of the truck, but they hopped in before closing them, Akko also jumped in and closed the top door. 

“This truck will take us all the way to town,” Akko said as they were in the leyline portal. 

She thought she was smart but then realized that they were going to miss their extra class. 

“The extra class, we’re going to miss it,” she said. 

“You can’t make an omelet before breaking a few eggs, sometimes you have to make sacrifices,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, what she said,” Sucy agreed. 

They were riding at the back of the truck for a while and Akko fell asleep. Luckily, Lotte woke her up and they left the truck riding on their brooms. Akko couldn’t fly yet, obviously, so she just rode on the back of Lotte’s, just like always. They flew into town, but since they couldn’t use magic in the town, they just walked on foot. 

“Wow! Amazing,” Lotte said in admiration as she looked up at all the Night Fall banners and the people in costumes. 

Hannah and Barbara also happened to be in the town since they were shopping and looked over at all the people. 

“What even is all this?” Hannah asked. 

“I heard there was a Night Fall event going on,” Barbara said. 

“Those dumb romance novels? It’s so embarrassing to see these adults cosplay,” Hannah said. 

“Why don’t we go over and check it out,” Barbara said nervously. 

Akko, Lotte, and Sucy, on the other hand, were walking up to the hall where the event was. 

“That’s it, right?” Akko asked, pointing to a building with Night Fall banners hanging from it. 

“I’m finally here, thank you so much,” Lotte said. 

They walked in and were immediately exposed to a large crowd. 

“Look at this crowd,” Akko said. 

“I didn’t know it would be like this,” Lotte said. 

“So, why did you become a fan of Night Fall?” Akko asked. 

“I don’t know, I guess it started when I was a kid, I was kind of bullied by the neighborhood kids for being from a witch's family, so I went to the library to try and get away from it, that’s where I found a Night Fall book, I started reading it and I just related so much to the vampire family and I just kept reading it, because I was captivated by the storytelling and the love triangle between the three main characters,” Lotte told. 

They got separated in the crowd so Akko had to yell back from behind Lotte, 

“Sorry, would you mind repeating that,” 

Suddenly the stage curtain opened and the announcer guy appeared. Luckily, Akko, Lotte, and Sucy were able to get a seat next to each other. 

“Hello, and welcome to this very special event, today we are here to celebrate the release of Night Fall volume 365, here to celebrate with us is the author of Night Fall herself, Anabelle,” the guy announced. 

A spotlight is shown on Anabelle, she was on her phone and from the looks of it, she was a kid no older than maybe ten. She didn’t say anything and went to sit in her chair on the stage. 

“Okay, anyway, moving on to the next part of this, a trivia battle, the winner will get a prize from the author,” the announcer said. 

“Question one, starting off easy, What is the exact address of the factory that made the gloves, Belle received from her grandmother?” the announcer questions. 

Many people raised their hands, including Lotte and Barbara, who so happened to be there with Hannah. 

“Do you actually know that? And why is your necklace glowing uncharacteristically bright, doesn’t it really only glow like that when we're at Luna Nova?” Hannah asked. 

“Um.. no, I was just stretching and yeah, that is weird,” Barbara replied looking down at her half book necklace that was indeed glowing pretty bright, unlike the necklace of the one next to her, that yes, was also glowing but quite a bit fainter. 

“Is your soulmate at this event?” Hannah asked. 

“Maybe,” Barbara replied, shrugging. 

"Hey, is that?" Hannah asked, pointing at the stage. 

"Lotte," Barbara said. 

"Isn't her necklace also glowing pretty bright, or is it just me?" Hannah said. 

"Yeah, I see it," Barbara said. 

"You don't think…," Hannah trailed off. 

"It could be Lotte," Barbara finished. 

“That’s crazy, that’s like saying Amanda is my soulmate or something,” Hannah said. 

“I mean, she could be,” Barbara said. 

Hannah didn’t comment on that. The announcer kept asking trivia questions to the two people on the stage, Lotte and a person who was in a Horologium costume. It was down to the last question, the Horologium got it wrong, which gave Lotte a chance to answer, she buzzed in and got the answer right, surprisingly. She won Anabelle’s fountain pen, which made her the next Anabelle, but she just couldn’t accept that. Lotte had to go find Anabelle so that she could give her back the pen. She might like the Night Fall series, but that doesn’t mean she would want to be the next writer, unlike Akko who wants to be like Chariot, Lotte doesn’t want to be like Anabelle, she just wants to admire her work. They looked around everywhere for her, but they couldn’t find her, so they just regrouped by a bench in the town. 

“I never actually wanted to be a writer,” Lotte said. 

“But you love Night Fall, don’t you want to be like Anabelle,” Akko said. 

“That’s the problem,” Lotte said. 

“What is?” Akko asked. 

“You might idolize and want to be like Chariot, but that doesn’t mean I want to be like Anabelle, I have a lot of things I’m not good at, so it’s easier for me to cheer on the people who are good at those types of things,” Lotte said. 

“I see,” Akko said in understanding. 

“So we have to find her,” Lotte said. 

“How old do you think that pen is?” Sucy asked, pointing to the pen in Lotte’s hand. 

“I don’t know, but they say that it’s been used since the first volume,” Lotte said. 

“Then there might be an ancient spirit living inside of it,” Sucy said. 

“What do you mean?” Akko asked. 

“She’s able to talk to spirits living in old objects,” Sucy said. 

“What? Really?” Akko said, surprised. 

“Take it down a notch,” Sucy said. 

“A spirit is definitely in this pen, I learned how to talk to them from my grandma when I was little, I don’t know if here is a good place though, ” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, it’s too noisy,” Sucy commented. 

So they walked over to a nearby park. Lotte placed the pen down on a rock and started singing a spell. The spirit emerged from the pen. 

“Woah,” Akko commented. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lotte Jansson, can you tell me where Anabelle is?” Lotte asked the spirit. 

The spirit started whispering in Lotte’s ear, it finished and receded back into the pen. 

“Anything?” Akko asked. 

“Nothing about Anabelle, unfortunately, but it did tell me that this pen has been choosing the next authors of the Night Fall series and that it chose the current Anabelle as well, apparently she’s not very confident in her abilities, though, so she organized this event in order to choose the next successor,” Lotte replied. 

“And it seems like she chose you,” Sucy said. 

“But I can’t accept that. The new volumes keep getting better and better, I can never hope to be as good as her, I will never accept a new volume of Night Fall that is not written by her,” Lotte said. 

“I know, why don’t you tell her that,” Akko said. 

“Huh,” Lotte said confused. 

“If you told her what you just said, I’m sure it would give her the confidence to keep writing,” Akko continued. 

“If you think you know her that well, do you know a place where she would’ve gone,” Sucy said. 

“Not a place, but hydrangeas,” Lotte said. 

“Good thing there’s some growing over there,” Sucy pointed to them in the distance. 

They walked over to where the flowers were growing and found Anabelle sitting in the grass. Anabelle was surprised to see them and stumbled back. 

“Please don’t run,” Lotte said. 

“If you’re here to return the pen, I refuse to take it back, Night Fall is your responsibility now,” Anabelle said. 

“But, you’re the one who was chosen,” Lotte said. 

“Haven’t you read the reviews, I don’t have talent, everybody’s been complaining about the story development,” Anabelle said. 

“I admit I was surprised that Arthur went to space,” Lotte said. 

“See,” Anabelle said. 

“But after looking into it, I realized that going to space was a dream of his,” Lotte said. 

Lotte started talking about how much she loved what Anabelle has written, but she just refuted by saying that whenever she released a new book, she would all these hate messages, but Lotte just kept encouraging her, telling her that it was only a few people who thought that way and that many people loved what she wrote. Lotte asked Anabelle which one was her favorite when Anabelle said 363, Lotte gushed about an important scene that happened. Anabelle was now inspired and took the pen from Lotte. She started writing and words started appearing in the sky, it was like magic. Everyone was amazed, even Hannah and Barbara who were in the town. 

“Night Fall?” Barbara questioned. 

They went back through the leyline. When they got back to Luna Nova, Professor Finnelan was waiting for them. 

“You know what’s coming,” Professor Finnelan said. 

The three of them just nodded. They had to go clean the troll’s bathroom now. When they finished, they finally went back to their dorms and went to sleep, it was a long day, after all. 


	9. Meeting Andrew

The students were watching a performance and Mr. Hanbridge and his son Andrew were also there. A lot of the students were fawning over Andrew, but his own fiance didn’t really get it. Diana never really got why people liked him so much, sure he’s cute and all, but he doesn’t have a high opinion of witches. The only reason that she was supposed to marry him was because of their status, the Cavendish family is failing financially and this marriage was supposed to help them get back on their feet. Diana’s aunt, Daryl, and Andrew’s dad, Paul, agreed to go through with this, even though Diana and Andrew didn’t want to, they couldn’t refuse this, since they were just little kids at the time, so they decided to just go along with it. 

_ “Why do I have to go through this? I’m only sixteen, I should be focusing on my studies and Akko is far cuter than Andrew anyway. Wait, do I really think that? Gosh, I think I’m going crazy,”  _ Diana thought. 

She stood there thinking of all the other things she could be doing instead of watching this. Suddenly, Headmistress Holbrooke called for her. Apparently, Andrew was getting bored, so Headmistress Holbrooke asked Diana to take him on a tour of the campus. Andrew’s friend, Frank was also there. Diana guided them through the school, but a little way along, Andrew got sidetracked by a pair of animal ears peeking out from behind a wall. It was Akko, she wasn’t allowed to watch the performance because she had failed at her metamorphosis magic, so she had to stay in her dorm and practice it, but she hated the idea of staying inside, so she snuck outside to find the Fountain of Polaris, she had read that it could help people become powerful. She was hiding and Andrew was curious, so he went to go see what it was. They accidentally bumped into each other. 

“Are those real?” Andrew asked, pointing at Akko’s ears. 

“Yes, they are, who do you think you are?” Akko said. 

“I’m Andrew Hanbridge,” Andrew replied. 

“Andrew? That cute guy everyone was talking about?” Akko questioned. 

“I guess so, and who are you?” Andrew asked. 

“I’m Atsuko Kagari, call me Akko,” Akko replied. 

“Nice to meet you, Akko,” Andrew said. 

“Likewise,” Akko said. 

“How did you get those ears?” Andrew asked. 

“A spell,” Akko said plainly. 

“Of course, you’re a witch, I’m at a witches academy after all,” Andrew said, shaking his head. 

“What do you mean?” Akko asked. 

“Magic is fading, advancements in science and technology will far surpass the advent of something like magic in the coming years,” Andrew said. 

“Hey! Magic is important, there’s a lot you can do with magic,” Akko defended. 

“Like what?” Andrew questioned. 

“Let me prove it to you,” Akko said. 

Akko cast a spell, but all it did was give Andrew animal ears and a tail. 

“You were saying?” Andrew asked. 

“I just messed up,” Akko said. 

“If you say so,” Andrew said. 

They approached the Fountain of Polaris, but when Akko tried to touch it, it’s guardian, which looked like a bear, appeared and started chasing them. They ran away, trying to avoid it, but it kept chasing them. Akko turned herself into a mouse, which made her faster and Andrew just evaded it and kept running. Luckily, Professor Ursula was behind them, since she went to check on Akko and noticed that she was gone, so she also went outside and saw her running away from a bear-like creature, so she cast a spell, which pushed it back into the fountain. Akko turned back into a human and Professor Ursula got rid of Andrew’s ears and tail. 

“Thank you, Professor Ursula,” Akko said. 

“You’re welcome, but why did you sneak out in the first place?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“I wanted to see the Fountain of Polaris and it was boring staying inside by myself,” Akko said. 

“Of course, that is so like you,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Well, my dad is calling for me, so I’m going to leave,” Andrew said. 

“I’m sorry, I guess I’ll see you,” Akko said. 

Andrew left and Akko went back to her dorm. Andrew sat in his car and heard his father talking about trying to shut down Luna Nova, but he didn’t understand that, especially because the person his father set him up with goes to that same school. 

_ “That’s stupid, he doesn’t really think he can do that, right?”  _ Andrew thought. 

Akko on the other hand, sat in her room, waiting for her teammates to come back. 

_ “I messed up, I did something like to Andrew, he’s like on the same level as Diana, I’m so stupid, but I guess everyone already knew that. I guess he’s cute, but Diana is cuter. Ah, what am I thinking?”  _ Akko thought. 

Sucy and Lotte walked into the room. 

“Hey, Akko, I’m sorry you couldn’t see the performance,” Lotte said. 

“It’s okay, I had my own adventure,” Akko said. 

“Of course you did, what happened now?” Sucy asked. 

“I accidentally gave Andrew animal ears and a tail and the guardian of The Fountain of Polaris started to come after us, luckily, Professor Ursula came to save us,” Akko said. 

“That’s good,” Lotte yawned. 

“Yeah, I guess it is, and I’m tired too,” Akko said. 

So they went to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this is shorter than most of the chapters, but I am prone to write shorter chapters, so the long chapters are kind of unusual for me. Thank you for all the kudos and hits and nice comments. I can't believe this story became the most popular one on my account in like three days, so thank you. I'm glad you like it.


	10. Caught With A Love Bee

There is a party at Andrew’s place and of course, Akko wants to go and she was dragging her team along as well, she was so oblivious. They don’t have anything to wear, so they went to _Last Wednesday Society_ to see if they could find something. The shopkeeper showed them different dresses but Akko wasn’t fond of any of them, but then the shopkeeper showed them a Cinderella set and told them it was half off if they buy it now and the Snow White set would come with it, so they took it and went back to Luna Nova. They stood in the courtyard with the box and were preparing to do the spell. They lifted their wands and cast the spell, which gave Akko and Lotte a dress and Sucy a cloak and turned the pumpkin into a bike. 

“This is the carriage?” Akko asked in disgust. 

“It says the spell only lasts two hours,” Lotte said. 

“That’s it? No wonder no one wanted it,” Sucy said. 

They rode the bike through the woods and approached the Hanbridge mansion. Akko cast **Metamorphie Faciesse** on a squirrel and it turned giant, which allowed them to sneak in through the smoke that was created and the distraction it caused for the guards. They walked in and were immediately greeted with all these fancy things, items that looked expensive, the paintings on the wall, the grand piano on the stage, and the food display. It looked like a dream, as Akko put it. She looked around to see Andrew in a conversation with others, but he didn’t seem to want to engage in such discussions so he walked away. Frank and his other friends were with him and they saw that Diana, Hannah, and Barbara were also there, of course, they were only there because of the engagement, Diana had far better things to do and was sure that her teammates also had other things to do as well. Akko and her teammates, on the other hand, were by the food table, they were witnessing this exchange, Lotte even commented that they make a good pair. 

_“That can’t be right, They are probably doing this to keep their families happy since they are both from noble families, it would make sense they would be put together and it looks to me like they don’t even want to be near each other, Diana looks really uncomfortable, I don’t know, I could be wrong,”_ Akko thought while eating a piece of cake. 

She suddenly started choking, she didn’t know why, but it could’ve been the piercing glare that she noticed Andrew was giving her. 

“Akko?” Diana asked, confused. 

“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” Akko said. 

She noticed how bright her necklace was glowing when Diana started stepping closer to her. 

“What on earth are you thinking?” Diana asked. 

“Why are you even here? I’m fairly certain you weren’t invited,” Andrew asked from the other side. 

“You’re right, I wasn’t, but it looks like I made it here anyway, I’m as much a guest as anyone here,” Akko defended, walking up in front of Andrew. 

“Of course, I should’ve known, such twisted logic from a witch,” Andrew said. 

“What did you say? Isn’t the person you’re supposed to be with also a witch?” Akko asked angrily. 

“It’s fine, you don’t have to defend me,” Diana responded from behind her. 

“But Andrew is being a huge douche,” Akko said, turning to face her. 

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Andrew said, gesturing his hand towards the door. 

Little did they know, Sucy opened a jar that released a bee into the room. It stung Andrew, making him do a full 360 in his attitude, he started telling Akko how much he loved her. Akko noticed the bee flying around. 

“Sucy! Why did you let the Cupid Bee out?” Akko asked, looking at her. 

“You said to let it sting someone, I thought this would be a good time to do it,” Sucy said. 

Lotte went to try and chase after the bee, but it stung Frank and three others, leading them to also start confessing, but to Lotte, she was caught up with all these guys asking her about her life, but luckily someone you wouldn’t suspect came to help her. Barbara extended her hand out to Lotte. 

“Here, grab my hand,” Barbara said. 

Lotte did as she was told and Barbara got her out of the crowd. 

“Thank you, but why?” Lotte asked. 

“I can’t help out a fellow classmate?” Barbara asked with a smile. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Lotte said. 

Lotte looked at her and saw that her necklace was glowing really bright and then looked down to notice that hers was also glowing brighter than before. 

“Umm….” Lotte trailed off, not knowing what to say. 

“This is awkward,” Barbara said. 

“Yeah, it is,” Lotte said. 

“So, what is your necklace?” Barbara asked. 

“It’s half a volume of Night Fall,” Lotte said. 

“Really? Mine is too,” Barbara said. 

“You like Night Fall?” Lotte asked. 

“Yeah, it’s more of a secret like, though,” Barbara said. 

They started talking about how they both like the series and started gushing over certain events. They weren’t certain why their necklaces were glowing very bright, but it wasn’t a concern. On the other hand, Akko was still caught up with Andrew, Diana saw the bee and started going after it, Akko wanted to follow her but was pushed to a wall by Andrew. He was about to kiss her but luckily she broke free and started running away, she took Sucy and they went upstairs, they hid behind a pillar and that’s when they finally lost Andrew. 

“What do I do?” Akko asked as Andrew ran in the opposite direction of them. 

“Just enjoy it, a boy has never liked you before, right?” Sucy asked. 

“Yeah, it’s the first time ever,” Akko said. 

“And I’m sure it will be the last,” Sucy said. 

_“Good! This is wrong, I wouldn’t want anyone to fall for me like this, I’d want it to be authentic, this is so forced,”_ Akko thought. 

Sucy grabbed a fan from her cloak and attached her wand to it, she sprinkled powder on it and it turned into a swatter contraption, she handed it to Akko. 

“If you squash the bee with this, you might be able to break its enchantment,” Sucy said. 

“All right, that sounds easy enough,” Akko said. 

On the other side, Diana was walking trying to look for the bee, but she didn’t know it was behind her, so it took an opportunity to sting her. She stumbled and leaned on a pillar. Akko and Sucy were going after it from the other side and so they crossed paths with each other. Since the cupid bee sting makes you fall in love with the first person you see and Akko was the first person Diana saw, she also saw her in the way Andrew did. Diana just started confessing her feelings. 

“How could I have been so cold to you before now?” Diana asked. 

“Huh,” Akko said, confused. 

“The truth is, I love you, Akko,” Diana confessed. 

Akko looked down at her brightly glowing necklace but just stood there in surprise as Diana ran away. Sucy shrugged her shoulders. In other news, Andrew is now outside as that’s where his search led him. His dad, Paul appeared from behind him. 

“I’ve heard there are witches from Luna Nova in our house,” Paul said. 

“Yes, sir,” Andrew said. 

“Did you allow this knowing how much I despise them?” Paul asked. 

“Why are you so against them? You’re the one who arranged for me to be with a witch,” Andrew said. 

“Yes, that may be true, but that’s only because Daryl had pushed me, so I agreed,” Paul said. 

“You did that knowing very well knowing that we were against it?” Andrew asked. 

“Yes, indeed, but that woman is just so stubborn,” Paul said. 

“Just like her niece,” Andrew said. 

They had finished their talk and went back inside, to hear the sound of the piano, which was terrible, Akko was smashing the keys trying to squash the bee. The guests were appalled by the sound, but luckily Andrew came to the stage and started playing The Flight of the Bumblebee on the piano, which was very appropriate for the situation. The bee was exposed from inside the piano and Akko went after it, swatting at it, but it stung everyone, making them fall in love with each other, it was really random, but Akko just kept going after the bee and it landed on Paul’s forehead, which gave Akko a chance to squash the bee. It returned everyone back to normal. Akko went to praise Andrew for his piano performance, but when she did so, her dress got turned back into a uniform, along with Sucy’s and Lotte’s. The red and blue teams just decided to go back to Luna Nova, which left Andrew at his mansion to talk with his friend, Frank, he asked Andrew about Akko, to which he said he was intrigued by her unconventionalness. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy were sitting in their dorm talking about the party. Frank had asked Lotte on a date but she declined. 

“You seriously declined Frank after he asked you out?” Akko asked. 

“Yeah, I appreciate that he asked, but it’s just I don’t know him that well, so it would be weird if we just started dating, and I also I’m kind of confused about Barbara,” Lotte said. 

“Barbara?” Akko questioned. 

“Yeah, both of our necklaces were glowing really bright when we were next to each other and I found out that she also likes Night Fall,” Lotte replied. 

“Wait! Really?” Akko asked. 

“Yeah, I didn’t really expect that either, anyway, what about you? Did you like having your prince charming swoon over you?” Lotte asked. 

“No! I didn’t, I hated having people fall for me like that, it was ingenuine,” Akko said. 

“There were multiple people?” Lotte said. 

“Oh yeah, Diana also confessed to her,” Sucy said. 

This made Akko blush.

“Really? I didn’t expect that, so that’s who you like, ” Lotte teased, poking one of her cheeks. 

“No! I don’t!” Akko defended. 

“Are you sure? Your necklace does glow really bright when you’re near her,” Sucy also teased, poking her other cheek. 

“Stop teasing me,” Akko said. 

“Only when you get over yourself and finally say what you feel,” Sucy said. 

“Never, no, not in a million years,” Akko said, throwing a pillow at them. 

“Come on, just admit it already,” Sucy said, throwing the pillow back. 

Akko didn’t want to, so now they were all in a pillow fight. 

_“Do I really like her though? No, she’s my rival, I can’t, right? Right.”_ Akko affirmed in her thoughts while defending herself with a pillow. 

Meanwhile, in the blue team’s dorm, they were also talking about what happened. 

“That cupid bee was crazy,” Hannah said. 

“Indeed,” Diana agreed. 

“I saw you with Lotte, what were you talking about?” Hannah asked Barbara. 

“That’s none of your business,” Barbara said. 

“Okay, okay, I won’t pry, anyway, can you believe Akko really had the nerve to do that?” Hannah asked. 

“I admit, I was surprised too, but she did manage to squash the cupid bee,” Diana said. 

“Since when did you care so much about her?” Hannah asked. 

“I don’t know, I guess I realized she’s got more to her than I thought,” Diana responded. 

“Are we talking about the same person here? This is Akko after all,” Hannah said. 

“Yeah, do you really believe that?” Barbara asked.

 _“Is that even a question? Of course, I do, she does have potential, I just failed to realize that in the beginning,”_ Diana thought. 

“Yes, I do,” Diana replied simply. 

Hannah and Barbara had nothing else to say so they just went to bed. 


	11. The Blue Moon

Akko had after school magic practice with Professor Ursula, this time she was practicing how to repair objects. 

**“Sosomme Tiextrilla,”** she cast. 

It lifted up pieces of the statue and put them in place, but she had to concentrate really hard and it was really straining for her. She almost got it right, but the disc the statue was holding was forwards instead of backward. She was discouraged and the statue fell apart. 

“Nice try, it was only your hundredth time, repair magic is difficult,” Professor Ursula said. 

“It was my one-hundred and first,” Akko said. 

“Oh, don’t let it get you down, you’ll do better tomorrow, I can feel it,” Professor Ursula said in an encouraging voice. 

“I’m not so sure,” Akko said. 

She went back to her dorm and just sat on the bed disheartened. 

“I’ve been having extra classes with Professor Ursula, but I’m still exactly where I was when I started,” Akko said. 

“Just keep trying, you will get it eventually,” Lotte said. 

“Thanks, I wish I could meet Chariot, though, I bet she would have some good advice to give me, but it’s been ten years since she’s last performed, why did she just disappear like that? Where has she been all this time? Where is she now?” Akko asked. 

“I bet she fell in love and ran off with her soulmate,” Lotte said. 

“I mean that does make sense,” Akko said. 

“Yeah, but I don’t really know, maybe Professor Ursula knows what happened, they both were students here and I’m pretty sure they’re almost the same age, it’s likely they knew each other, they could’ve been classmates,” Lotte said. 

“For real?” Akko asked with hopefulness. 

“It’s possible,” Lotte said. 

“I’ll ask her,” Akko said. 

“It’s a little late,” Lotte said. 

“Then I’ll check her room first,” Akko said before leaving the dorm. 

Professor Ursula was indeed in her room, she was looking out her window admiring the stars when she heard knocking on the door. She didn’t have her glasses on, so when she opened the door to see Akko that was the first thing she asked about. She didn’t expect to have any visitors especially at this time, so she was caught off guard, but she let Akko in anyway and grabbed her glasses. 

“So, can I offer you some tea?” Professor Ursula asked. 

They sat at the table and Professor Ursula poured some tea for the both of them. 

“What is it that you wanted to talk about?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“When you were younger you went to Luna Nova too, right? Did you know Shiny Chariot? If so, were you two classmates?” Akko asked. 

“Yeah,” Professor Ursula answered. 

“Really? That’s so awesome!” Akko exclaimed. 

“I don’t know about all that,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Why did she disappear? Where has she been all this time?” Akko asked. 

“I don’t know,” Professor Ursula replied. 

“That’s okay,” Akko said dejectedly. 

“I’m sorry, I do wish I could be of help,” Professor Ursula said. 

“It’s just that I went to one of her shows when I was little, after that, my dream was to become just like her, it’s still my dream,” Akko said. 

“Oh,” Professor Ursula said in understanding. 

“It’s just that sometimes I get so scared, I think if I could meet her and ask her anything, I would ask if there was any way I could ever be like her,” Akko continued. 

Professor Ursula got up and walked to the window, Akko followed behind her. 

“Professor?” Akko questioned. 

“A long time ago, I had a mentor who meant a lot to me. One day, my teacher said to me, Phaidoari Afairynghor,” Professor Ursula told. 

“Phaidoari Afairynghor?” Akko questioned. 

“It’s an old saying, it means, you don’t get the things you dream of, you get the things you work for. No matter what, it’s now your turn to take care of the Shiny Rod,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko was satisfied with this and just looked out the window to see a bright blue moon shining down. 

“Woah! The moon’s so blue,” Akko commented. 

“Yeah, you’re right, it is, it’s already the night of the blue moon,” Professor Ursula said. 

With that, Akko went back to her dorm. On the other hand, the Headmistress and other professors were in their office together, talking about the decline of witches, how it’s been a long time since their glory days, and when their source of magic became so linked to the Sorcerer’s Stone. Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door, it was Diana. 

“I’m looking for a book on the Nine Olde Witches, I looked through most of the library, but unfortunately couldn’t find anything, I thought that perhaps you might know something about it, Headmistress,” she spoke. 

“I believe I know the book you are speaking of, there’s an archive on campus, only certain people are allowed inside, however, I more than sure you’ve proven yourself worthy to look through it,” Headmistress Holbrooke said, putting a magic key on her desk. 

Diana gladly took it. 

“Thank you, kindly, Headmistress,” Diana said. 

“One last thing, enter once the sun sets for the evening, there’s a blue moon tonight and one can never know what sort of mysteries may rise on the night of a blue moon,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

* * *

Akko was asleep in her dorm but a strange dream woke her up, it was about the blue moon, so she went to the desk and grabbed her Chariot card relating to it. She remembered back to when she was little reading the card in her room, it is rumored that there is a ghost that comes out on the nights that a blue moon happens. She wanted to see it, so she put her uniform back on and took the Shiny Rod and went to the New Moon Tower to find the Blue Moon Abyss, where it resides. At a different part of the campus, Diana was flying up to see a book that the moonlight was shining on. It had a lock on it, but when she picked it up, it disintegrated, so she started reading it. Back on Akko’s side, she reached the part of the New Moon Tower which led to the cave, the crystal that would unlock the second word started shooting a green laser, which revealed the cave. At the archive, Diana read a passage about the Seven Words of Arcturus and the Grand Triskelion and how the Claiomh Solais can revive it using the seven words. Meanwhile, Akko walked into the Blue Moon Abyss and accidentally bumped into a boulder which morphed it and the boulders around it into the faces of witches which told her “why did you come here?” in an ominous voice. Akko was scared and started running the other way, but fell down a hole which brought her farther down into the Blue Moon Abyss. It showed her a vision of Shiny Chariot, but it wasn’t the real her. When Akko told her how her dream was to become like her and asked her what she should do, Chariot responded that her dream will never come true. After Akko told her she was lying and that the real Chariot would never say that, she disappeared, revealing the ghost of the Blue Moon Abyss. 

“So it was you pretending to be Chariot, why would you do that?” Akko asked. 

“What brings you here?” The ghost asked back. 

“I have a question, you know that past, present, and future, you can answer anything I ask,” Akko said. 

“I do not know all, yet, but what I can not answer, no one else can,” the ghost responded. 

“I want to know my future, I  _ need  _ to know it, tell me the truth, will I ever be like Chariot?” Akko asked. 

“Foolish,” the ghost replied simply. 

“Please, there’s nothing more important to me than this,” Akko pleaded. 

“Is this truly the future that you seek?” the ghost asked while opening its branch-like body to reveal a door, which showed Akko a vision of her as Chariot. 

“This is… it’s my dream,” Akko said. 

“Merely step through the door and this future can become yours,” the ghost said. 

“You might have the bright future that you so desire, but you will lose your past,” the ghost continued as Akko looked at the vision. 

“What are you saying?” Akko asked. 

“To attain your dream, you must pay a price, sacrifice, your past,” the ghost said. 

Suddenly, the ghost showed Akko memories of her time at Luna Nova and the people she met. 

“Wait! Please don’t take them, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past, but if they’re gone, how will I ever learn from them?” Akko asked

“You would lose the chance to obtain your dream just to save your regrets?” the ghost asked. 

“I cried and when I couldn’t cry I’d scream, but I would laugh too, I loved every moment, my memories are what remain from everything I’ve done, and I always did my best, I won’t lose them,” Akko said with determination. 

“Can you leave, knowing you may never be Chariot?” the ghost asked. 

“So what? If I work hard enough, I can still be a great witch, and besides, my name is Atsuko Kagari, not Shiny Chariot, I’m my own person,” Akko said. 

The Shiny Rod started glowing. 

“Someone important told me this, you might not get the things that you dream of, but you will always get the things that you work for,  **Phaidoari Afairynghor** ,” Akko said. 

The Shiny Rod turned into a scythe and she struck down the creature, it drained a lot of her and she fell to the ground. Luckily, Professor Ursula saw this from her crystal ball earlier, so she went to help her.

“It’s been far too long, it’s good to see you again, I hope all is well, Professor Woodward,” Professor Ursula said. 

The ghost, who happened to be Professor Woodward, one of the Nine Olde Witches all along, appeared in front of her. 

“Greetings Chariot, it appears the Claiomh Solais, once lost, has now returned,” Professor Woodward said. 

“You put Akko through the trial? The same trial you gave me,” Professor Ursula said. 

“She is determined but stubborn, she revived the second word,” Professor Woodward said. 

“She revived the first word on her first day and now the second word has been revived,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Remember, she needs to speak all seven words,” Professor Woodward said before vanishing. 

Professor Ursula flew Akko back to the main building and by this time Diana had gathered the information she needed so she left the archive and went back as well. 


	12. The Mischievous Mirror

The Samhain festival was coming up soon and the teams had to choose what their assignments would be. This would be at random by the magic equivalent of drawing popsicle sticks, you basically draw a spirit type thing from a box and it tells you what your assignment would be. Of course, Diana and the blue team got summoning, which was the main part of the festival, but Akko and the red team had to be sacrifices for the monster, Vajarois. Everybody except Diana started laughing at her. 

“Be quiet! We need to focus on doing our jobs for the festival, save your useless chatter for later,” Diana stood up and said. 

Everyone immediately stopped talking. 

_ “Thank you, Diana,”  _ Akko thought. 

“Yes, I agree, also, I have an announcement, we’ve chosen our executive committee chairman for the festival,” Professor Finnelan said after clearing her throat. 

_ “It’s probably going to be Diana isn’t it?”  _ Akko thought. 

Indeed it was so after this announcement they went back to their dorms, the green team also happened to be there with them. 

“Why do we have to be the sacrifices? I thought that the Samhain Festival was supposed to be fun, so what’s with the whole ghost eating sacrifices thing?” Akko asked. 

Lotte started reading about Vajarois from her crystal ball, Sucy was kind of skeptical about what she was reading, about the fact Vajarois lost all her friends and started weeping uncontrollably and now needs sacrifices to be satisfied. Akko was kind of angry, that it was because Vajarois was a big crybaby that they needed to do this in the first place. 

“Aww, man! This whole thing is making me want to cry, now my practice to be a Moonlit Witch like Chariot feels like a big waste,” Akko said. 

“Wait a minute, you’re saying you want to be the Moonlit Witch?” Amanda asked. 

“I’m not sure if that’s likely, at this rate I think Diana is going to be the one chosen,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, I got to agree,” Amanda said. 

“Right?” Lotte said. 

“Who’s friends are you?” Akko asked. 

“Well, she does come from a long line of great witches, so it makes sense that Diana’s a magic prodigy,” Lotte said. 

_ “Yeah, I guess that’s true, but she still tries as hard as the rest of us do,”  _ Akko thought. 

“Yeah, okay, but don’t you want to be the Moonlit Witch too?” Akko said. 

“I’m only here to learn magic so I can take over my family’s magic item café,” Lotte said. 

“What about you Sucy?” Akko asked. 

But Sucy was just fascinated with how it would be in the ghost body. 

“Man! That’s totally crazy,” Amanda said. 

“Isn’t it?” Akko asked. 

“No, not that, you’re crazy if you really think you’ll get chosen as the Moonlit Witch when you can’t even ride a broom yet,” Amanda said. 

“She’s not wrong,” Sucy affirmed. 

“Sorry. It was bad luck, there’s nothing we can really do,” Lotte said. 

Akko started getting visibly angry, she bawled her hands into fists. 

“Maybe if you didn’t get your hopes up so high, this wouldn’t happen,” Sucy said. 

“Being a sacrifice suits you,” Amanda said. 

Akko couldn’t handle anymore of what they were saying so she stormed out of the room. She walked along and heard another team talking with Diana, so she stopped to see what it was. They were in a room that housed mirrors since that team was assigned to handle the mirrors, but that didn’t know which one to use, so they went to ask Diana for her advice, so she went to the different mirrors and chose one, it was a little mischievous, but nothing an enchantment couldn’t fix, so they left the room. Akko was hiding, putting a hand over her necklace, she didn’t want them seeing her, but after they had left, Akko went into the room, she looked at the mirror that Diana was looking at earlier. 

“You’re jealous aren’t you?” Akko’s mischievous reflection asked. 

_ “Of who? Diana? I mean, maybe, she is perfect in almost every way,”  _ Akko thought. 

“I bet you probably wish you were a magic prodigy, don’t you?” the reflection asked. 

_ “That would be nice, but I know that that kind of thing doesn’t fit me,”  _ Akko thought. 

Suddenly, the mirror showed a reflection of Diana, and Akko was turned into her. She still had her necklace, but now it was the other half, Akko’s was the right half, but she was wearing the left half now, Akko found this weird because she knew Diana never wore her’s, so why is it that she’s wearing it now? Professor Finnelan entered the room and Akko suddenly realized what she was in for. 

“Ah, Ms. Cavendish, the schedule that you drafted for the festival is absolutely perfect, and is that your necklace? That’s quite different for you,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“Ah, well, yes, I decided that it would be a nice change,” Akko replied, but still in Diana’s body. 

When Professor Finnelan said that they should discuss the schedule more, she faked discomfort, so she could get out of it, so she left the room and bumped into her teammates, Akko decided why not play a prank on them since she was already in Diana’s body, so that’s exactly what she did, but she immediately regretted it when she saw Professor Finnelan again, so she ran to where her dorm was, but she bumped into a troll on the way, and it told her that she should be going to her room, so that’s exactly what she did. Now, Akko is in Diana’s room, but this only worked because she was still in her body. 

_ “So this is Diana’s room, huh? I shouldn’t be in someone else’s room without permission,”  _ Akko thought. 

She decided to look around anyway, but two other students went and asked her about the statues in the courtyard, so she went to see what it was. A lot of other students were gathered there as Akko attempted to cast a spell on the statues, it didn’t work, but luckily, the real Diana came and fixed it and turned Akko back into herself. 

“I can explain all of this, I swear,” Akko said. 

“No need, I already know it was that mirror, that did this,” Diana said. 

“Diana!” Akko said in a surprised voice. 

“By the way, I had a meeting with Lotte and Sucy about your sacrificing duties,” Diana said with her arms crossed. 

“Uhh,” Akko said with unknowingness. 

“You forgot, right? How irresponsible,” Diana said. 

“Oh, sorry, I guess I was so upset about it, that it slipped my mind,” Akko said. 

“Then did you pull this prank out of spite, then?” Diana asked. 

“No! It was an accident! I looked at the mirror and it just suddenly just turned me into you and you were wearing your necklace,” Akko said. 

“Really? Do you expect me to believe that?” Diana asked. 

“I guess not,” Akko moped. 

“You always sulk and lose interest in things when they don’t go the way you want, and you’re too busy playing pretend to learn the history or tradition of real magic, what gives you the right to study here?” Diana asked with annoyance.

“Didn’t I say in the beginning that I have as much potential as anyone else? I have what it takes, I’m serious about becoming like Chariot,” Akko defended. 

“Oh yeah? Then prove it,” Diana said. 

“I will, I will prove to you and everyone else that I’m worthy to be here and that I deserve more of your respect, you of all people should see the potential I have,” Akko declared. 

“Sure, you might have potential, but you clearly haven’t proven yourself yet, I would love to see you prove me wrong, though,” Diana said. 

“Just you wait, Diana, I will prove you wrong, then you’ll have no choice but to pay attention to me,” Akko said pointing a finger towards her. 

“I’d like to see you try,” Diana said. 

“Try? No! I  _ will _ ,” Akko said before leaving and going back to her dorm. 

This left Diana in the courtyard alone as everyone else had already gone back to their dorms.

_ “Don’t worry, you’ve already had my attention, Akko, since the moment you got to Luna Nova, let’s just hope you can keep it,”  _ Diana thought, before ultimately heading back to her dorm as well.


	13. The Samhain Festival

Today is the Samhain Festival. Akko’s chance to finally prove herself. She had talked to Professor Ursula the night before. She had told Akko to not compare herself to others and do only what she could do. Akko also saw a vision of Chariot performing a spell, which happened to be the third word, **Arae Aryrha** , she realized that Chariot wasn’t performing to the Moonlit Witch, Akko finally knew what she could do about the sacrifice. She was sitting in her dorm with Lotte and Sucy and they were watching a video of the Vajarois on Lotte’s crystal ball. Akko started talking about how frightful it was and how it could eat its sacrifices in one bite. 

“Are we really going to be eaten like this? It makes me feel...” Lotte trailed off. 

“Intensely excited?” Sucy asked. 

“Right then! We’re going to make sure this ceremony goes a little differently than usual,” Akko said. 

“Huh?” Lotte asked, confused. 

“When Chariot was chosen as the Moonlit Witch for her use of metamorphosis magic, I don’t think she really cared about the attention or fame, all she cared about was being able to entertain people, so let’s shake things up, we’ll get the Vajarois crying from laughter instead, that’ll get people talking, for sure,” Akko announced. 

“Do we really have to?” Sucy asked. 

“Huh? Come on, don’t you think it’s super depressing having people watch as Vajarois goes about gloomily eating sacrifices? Magic should be way more fun and inspiring to watch. It should be used to make people happy, don’t you think so?” Akko asked enthusiastically. 

“Akko, your enthusiasm is contagious, but I think this is a little too much,” Sucy said. 

“We should probably stick to the original plan,” Lotte suggests. 

“But we need to use Chariot’s metamorphosis magic on it, otherwise it’ll go on being sad like that forever,” Akko said. 

“This is how the ceremony has been going on for years though,” Lotte said. 

“And, besides, it’s not like you’ve even mastered basic metamorphosis magic, have you?” Sucy asked. 

“Yeah, well, I guess you’re right,” Akko said. 

“Listen, I know you have good intentions, but we just can’t keep going along with you on a whim, okay,” Lotte said before leaving the room. 

_ “I want people to see how wonderful magic is, and also prove that I’m good enough,”  _ Akko thought before also leaving the room. 

Sucy followed behind them and they went to the café for breakfast and then went to class. The festival was being set up and would be held after school. 

\--------------------------

Akko was practicing her metamorphosis magic as there was still time before the festival. Lotte and Sucy, on the other hand, were in their dorm, where they found a notebook that had Akko’s plan for the ceremony, they read through it and decided why not? So, they went to find her in the courtyard. 

“You really can’t do anything without us, can you Akko,” Sucy said, lifting up the notebook.

“That’s why we should work together,” Lotte said. 

“We thought it would be best if you took point using the metamorphosis magic and we could be your backup,” Sucy said. 

“That way if things go wrong, we could cover for you,” Lotte said. 

“You guys, thank you so much, we can do this,” Akko said. 

They walked over to see all the stuff set up for the festival, many people were coming through the leyline to see the festival. Including alumni from Luna Nova and even the Minister of Magic, Dorlin. Diana signaled the official start of the festival and students started making the Luna Nova symbol with smoke in the air since that’s how it started. Then, the other performers performed their part, least to say that the alumni were quite underwhelmed by this performance. It was time for the blue team to perform, but since they were the last to perform before the sacrifice, they went to check on the red team who were sitting in a tent. 

“Good, you three are here,” Diana said. 

“You thought we wouldn’t be?” Akko asked. 

“I thought, maybe, you would chicken out in the last seconds,” Diana said. 

“You still think that? You must know by now, I never give up, I always follow through on my promises,” Akko said. 

“I better see that then,” Diana said. 

“You will,” Akko said. 

“At least, you don’t know when to quit,” Hannah said. 

“That’s for sure,” Barbara agreed. 

“You’re right, I don’t know when to quit,” Akko affirmed. 

The blue team left the tent because it was now time for their summoning performance. At first, they were just in water, but Diana had summoned a unicorn from it, the Cavendish familiar. Everybody was mesmerized by this display, it was the only performance that remotely intrigued the audience in any way. Akko hoped that the audience would have the same feeling towards her performance as well. The blue team had finished their performance and the clock struck midnight, which meant it was time for the sacrifice. They walked onto the stage as the blue team walked off. Akko walked passed Diana and said, 

“Just watch,” 

_ “Oh, I’ll be sure to. Prove me wrong, Akko,”  _ Diana thought. 

Vajarois emerged from its chamber and was definitely hungry, but Akko had other plans. She started yelling at it to chase after her and it did. It almost ate her, but she used  **Metamorphie Faciesse** which turned her into a mouse. Sucy and Lotte were on the brooms covering from above. Akko turned back into herself and kept egging Vajarois on, so it destroyed the stage. Luckily, Akko turned herself into a flying elephant, she was about to fall, but Lotte kept her floating by casting a spell that attached balloons to her. Sucy also helped by pouring a potion that allowed mushrooms to grow out of the ground, Akko landed on one of them, she was still an elephant. Lotte and Sucy cast another spell which turned Vajarois’s head into bushes. Akko was trying to make Vajarois laugh, but it didn’t, the audience laughed though. She then made fireworks and was now herself on the other side of the mushrooms. She cast  **Metamorphie Faciesse** again but didn’t quite get it right, she turned into many different creatures with incorrect proportions in an attempt to make Vajarois laugh and be happy, but it didn’t work. The audience on the other hand was thoroughly amused. 

“Looks like she hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it,” Lotte said. 

“Everyone’s still enjoying themselves though,” Sucy said. 

Akko asked if Vajarois was happy yet, but all it did was scream at her. Akko fell off the mushroom, but luckily Sucy and Lotte caught her while flying on their brooms. In other news, Professor Ursula found Vajarois’s Vestige in the archive, so she cast a spell on it, which revealed the spirit living inside of it, she asked about Vajarois’s curse and it showed her the Seed of Grief, it told her that Vajarois swallowed it after she lost her friends, as to never forget them, but her sorrow let the seed germinate. Meanwhile, back outside, Akko, Lotte, and Sucy flew over Vajarois again, to see it sobbing. It screamed at them, which shot them up into the air and made Akko let go of the Shiny Rod. Luckily, Professor Ursula found it and sent her familiar Alcor to fly up and give it back to her. As the red team was falling back down. Professor Ursula told Akko through Alcor, about how the Seed of Grief made Vajarois sorrowful and how it spread, she also told her to find the source of its sadness and weed it out. Alcor, then, gave her back the Shiny Rod, but since they couldn’t do anything about the falling they fell straight into Vajarois’s mouth. Everybody was surprised at this, especially Diana and Professor Ursula who were both watching from above on their brooms. The three of them just traveled through Vajarois’s body until they eventually reached the Seed of Grief. Akko pointed the Shiny Rod at the Seed of Grief and it started glowing.

“Vajarois, remember all the laughter you shared together, remember their smiles,  **Arae Aryrha** ,” she cast. 

The Shiny Rod turned into a rope and it latched onto the Seed of Grief. With the help of Lotte and Sucy, they successfully pulled the Seed of Grief out of Vajarois’s body, which in turn, brought the three of them out of its body and turned Vajarois into its true form, before it disappeared. 

“Amazing! The sacrificial team did something no one could’ve ever dreamed of,” Wangari announced.

The audience was all clapping for them as they stood there in the spotlight hugging each other, with Akko crying. Diana was now on the ground and just looked at them from a distance. 

_ “You always seem to surprise me, huh, Akko, I guess you did prove me wrong, but what else should I have expected,”  _ Diana thought. 

“Hey, Diana, it hasn’t been announced yet, but you’re going to be the Moonlit Witch for sure,” Wangari said, flying over her. 

“But what about Akko?” Diana asked. 

“They were disqualified for not following the rules, even so, it was quite a show they put on, you should head back to the award ceremony,” Wangari said before she flew away. 

“It’s so strange, what is this, I’m feeling?” Diana asked herself before returning to the ceremony. 

Akko had finally stopped crying and let go of Lotte and Sucy. She ran up to Diana instead. 

“I guess I proved you wrong, didn’t I,” Akko said with confidence. 

“I guess you did,” Diana responded simply. 

“Is that all you have to say?” Akko asked. 

“What do you expect me to say? I’m just agreeing with you,” Diana said. 

“Thank you,” Akko said out of nowhere.

“For what?” Diana asked. 

“Motivating me to do better,” Akko said, looking down at her brightly glowing necklace. 

“You’re welcome and if it’s any consolation, I think you should’ve won the Moonlit Witch award,” Diana said. 

“It’s fine, I don’t really care about that, I’m just glad I was able to entertain the audience, you deserve it more than I do,” Akko said. 

“But you did a way better job than I did,” Diana said. 

“Why the heck are you so modest all the time? Can’t you just accept the fact that you’re better than me?” Akko asked. 

“I don’t believe I’m better than anyone else, though,” Diana said. 

“Gosh, come on, you’re the best witch at this school,” Akko said. 

“You really think so?” Diana asked. 

“I  _ know _ so, now go get your award,” Akko said, grabbing Diana’s wrist and dragging her to the professors, who gave her the award. 

Diana still didn’t feel like she deserved it, even after the person she thought was the most deserving told her that she did, but she just kept that to herself and went back to her dorm, but what she thought was more strange was how she wanted to feel Akko’s warm hand again. 

_ “I really must be going crazy,”  _ Diana thought. 

She just left it at that and went to bed.


	14. The New Teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! This story already reached 1000 hits. Thank you so much, guys!! Anyway, enjoy the next chapter.

The Sorcerer’s Stone is a maximum magic output, but the faeries felt like they didn’t get their fair share of magic, so they started revolting. They refused to do any of their duties until they got their fair share. This basically meant that the students couldn’t use magic anymore since the faeries powered the Sorcerer’s Stone. Headmistress Holbrooke and the other professors sent Professor Ursula to gather more magic energy from outside sources, while they were to check on the faeries, many students also went to see what it was. The faeries were sitting outside the New Moon Tower refusing to do any work. They even were trying to board up the area where the Sorcerer’s Stone was being held to prevent anyone else from trying to use it. A sudden gust of wind blew the faeries away and the board was about to drop onto Akko’s head, but a roomba-like device knocked the board out the way before it hit her. Then, a mysterious person with lavender hair started riding down to the ground on one of these devices. 

“Oh, I almost forgot what day it was, it’s our new professor’s first day,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

_ “She looks around the same age as Professor Ursula, that’s kind of young for a professor,”  _ Akko thought. 

“She looks too young to be a professor,” Akko commented. 

“It’s been a while hasn’t it? How have things been?” The new teacher asked. 

“We’re in a bit of a situation at the moment,” Headmistress Holbrooke replied. 

“What the heck is this?” Akko asked, pointing at one of the devices. 

“And how is it flying? Our magic source is blocked off,” Lotte said. 

“This little thing here is a magic moving unit made with magic-tronics, I’d like to think of it as an advanced flying broom,” the teacher responded. 

“An advanced broom?” Akko asked.

It started cleaning the dust on the floor, one of the professors commented on how useful it was. 

“Now, then, please meet your new Modern Magic teacher, Professor Croix,” Headmistress Holbrooke announced. 

“If this piqued your interest, come to my classroom, let’s discuss the future of magic,” Professor Croix said. 

She pressed a button on her remote and her magic flying units started flying up and clearing the sky, all the students looked very surprised. 

“The future of magic?” Akko asked herself. 

They all returned to the dorms and now the lights aren’t working, so they had to light a candle. 

“It’s just getting worse,” Sucy said. 

“Now our lights are gone,” Akko said. 

“Well, the strike is still going on, after all,” Lotte said. 

“But, anyway, the new professor seems so cool, doesn’t she, I’m really curious about what her class is like,” Akko said. 

“Someone who already attended the class said that you get to use tablets Professor Croix invented herself,” Lotte said. 

“Woah! Tablets?” Akko questioned. 

Meanwhile, in the headmistress’s office, Professor Croix was showing the professors the tablet. 

“This is the beginning of the end,” Professor Lukić said, touching her wand to it. 

“I can assure you it’s not,” Professor Croix said. 

“It is forbidden to use such a gaudy thing in our classrooms, also, I heard that you brought some of your modern machinery into the Tower of the New Moon,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“You must mean my research equipment,” Professor Croix said. 

“You’ll curse us all,” Professor Lukić said.

“Oh, please,” Professor Croix laughed. 

Professor Finnelan cleared her throat before saying, 

“Regardless, please refrain from causing any problems for the school, Professor Croix,” 

* * *

Not having magic is getting to many students, especially Akko. She was on her last nerve, so she went to the faeries herself, she brought Lotte to translate but ended up joining them instead. Akko heard the faeries’ side of the story and decided to protest with them. The professors went to check on the faeries again to try and talk them down but got met with Akko yelling into a megaphone about the faeries getting more magic and letting them use the Sorcerer’s Stone. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Diana asked, walking up to them. 

“What does it look like? I’m protesting a fair share of magic for the faeries,” Akko said. 

“If you knew anything, you would know that the Sorcerer’s Stone is almost at full magical energy capacity, we can’t spare any more,” Diana said. 

“That doesn’t change anything though, the faeries haven’t gotten their equal share even before this point, they do so much work for this school and are basically given nothing,” Akko said. 

“Even so, we can’t do anything about it, the students and staff use a lot of magic too,” Diana said. 

“Isn’t there something we can do?” Akko said. 

“I’m afraid not, so stop wasting your time,” Diana said before walking off. 

_ “I mean, she does make a good point, who knew you could be so persuasive, Akko?”  _ Diana thought. 

Everyone already left, so that just left Akko outside with the faeries, it was now night, but Akko refused to go back inside, so Lotte and Sucy stayed with her for a while.

“We’re never going to be able to do magic again at this rate, are you okay with that?” Lotte asked. 

“Not exactly, but the faeries told me that they can’t live without the Sorcerer’s Stone’s energy,” Akko said. 

It had started raining. 

“Oh, right, remember when that dragon came and took the Sorcerer’s Stone?” Sucy asked. 

“When did that happen?” Akko asked. 

“There was a dragon that we had to pay a debt to, but we couldn’t pay it, so it took the Sorcerer’s Stone, but luckily Diana was able to read the dragon language to reveal that there was no interest on the debt statement at all, so the dragon gave back the stone. You seriously forgot that?” Sucy asked. 

“Oh, yeah, I remember now,” Akko said. 

“Anyway, the faeries couldn’t move until it was put back,” Sucy said. 

“Yeah, they need the stone more than we do, they’ve had to already make do with the little they’ve been given, it’s hard for them when witches use most of the energy,” Akko said. 

“Well, this is a magic school, so it’s normal for witches to use that much magic,” Lotte said. 

“I know, but you both know how I want to become a great witch like Chariot and use magic to make people happy, right? But I don’t want to cause any sort of trouble for other people just to accomplish that dream, it wouldn’t feel right if someone else had to bear a burden for my happiness,” Akko said. 

Suddenly her stomach rumbled, so the faeries brought them soup. They gladly drank it before finally going back inside. 

* * *

“Okay! Time to begin negotiations with the labor union,” Coach Nelson announced. 

They were sitting in a conference room across from each other. The professors were on one side and the labor union, along with Akko were on the other side. 

“Ms. Kagari?” Headmistress Holbrooke questioned. 

“ I kind of became their chief secretary,” Akko answered. 

“My! You’re really climbing the ranks,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

“Oh well, We the faerie labor union are demanding a ten percent increase in our share of energy use,” Akko declared. 

“Ten percent?” Professor Badcock said in utter bafflement. 

“In addition, we want health benefits as well as more energy for housing,” Akko continued. 

“Request denied,” Professor Finnelan said simply. 

“You didn’t even consider it,” Akko said. 

“That’s because it’s impossible,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“She’s right you know, energy isn’t something we can just create,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

“But what if we could?” Professor Croix proposed as she entered the room. 

“Professor Croix!” Akko exclaimed. 

Everyone looked at her expectantly. Suddenly, a device floated in front of them. 

“I’m currently developing the Sorcery Solution System or SSS for short, with it we can create energy,” Professor Croix said pointing to the device. 

“Uhh, sorcery?” Akko questioned. 

“Magic power is fading, what do we do if we can’t use magic anymore? But wait! If you incorporate the SSS you won’t have to worry about these issues for years to come. The Sorcerer’s Stone absorbs power from the leyline, then releases it, so throughout the day it keeps producing energy like a power plant, thus wasting precious magic power. Now, what if we transformed all that waste of magic power into another form of energy and used it more efficiently? That is the Sorcery Solution System,” Professor Croix told. 

“That all sounds awfully complicated,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

“Not at all, the SSS doesn’t change a thing, meaning the magic will work as it always has. Actually, this flying unit is powered by the SSS,” Professor Croix said, showing the flying unit on top of SSS. 

“Really?” Akko asked. 

“Surely, that must be expensive,” Professor Badcock said. 

“You’re right, the research will be costly, however, if the school builds a research lab, the government will provide a grant,” Professor Croix said. 

“Seriously?” Professor Badcock asked. 

“This would make the final cost zero,” Professor Croix said. 

“Zero?” Professor Badcock asked, surprised. 

“We can save energy from the Sorcerer’s Stone when the witches are sleeping and turn it into energy that can be used semi-permanently by the faeries, that way both witches and faeries can use the energy equally,” Professor Croix said. 

The labor union was all for this idea but the professors didn’t like this as they wanted to uphold the tradition of Luna Nova. The revolts just got worse after they heard that some of the students used a faerie to have a hot shower, it pushed them over the edge. Luckily, what saved everyone was Professor Croix’s modern magic, the use of the system appeased the faeries, so the professors reluctantly agreed. Professor Ursula finally returned with more energy, but at this point, it wasn’t needed. 

“Headmistress, I’m so sorry it took this long, but I managed to get all this,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Your efforts are greatly appreciated, however, we don’t really need them anymore,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

“Huh?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“Things are changing around here,” Headmistress Holbrooke said, holding up a phone that Professor Croix made. 

Professor Ursula just started walking back to her room when she noticed her necklace, which was hidden inside her shirt, glowing quite bright. 

_ “Huh? Is Croix here?”  _ Professor Ursula thought. 

She kept walking and indeed saw Croix, she was talking with Akko. 

_ “Why did you come back here? After all this time, what are you up to?”  _ Professor Ursula thought. 

She decided to ignore it for the time being and went to her room. She would tell Akko everything, sooner or later. 


	15. Old Soulmates Found Again

Akko decided to go check out Professor Croix’s class. She was very excited about the new technology that Professor Croix had created. She particularly wanted to see what the whole tablet thing was about. Many other students were also very intrigued, but Diana on the other hand didn’t really understand. Professor Croix went on with her lecture and when the class had finished, Diana went to the library, she wanted to learn more about Professor Croix. She was looking through an old Luna Nova yearbook when Professor Ursula approached her. 

“Hello, Diana, are you doing some research? Dedicated as always it seems,” Professor Ursula said. 

“It’s nothing important, really, I just wanted to learn more about Professor Croix,” Diana said. 

“Professor Croix, you say?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“It seems like she was an exceptional student here, she’s contributed to the innovation of magic since she was young, her research on magic conversion is especially groundbreaking,” Diana said. 

“Yes, you’re quite right, I would even go as far as to say her talent was on par with yours, her passion for magic burned brighter than anyone else’s, she was always very opinionated when it came to the subject, although, as a student, I recall her being very quiet,” Professor Ursula told. 

“Sounds like you know a lot about her, were you two friends?” Diana asked. 

“Well, yes, I was very close to her when I was a student here, I guess you could say she was my friend, but everybody knew of her, she was quite famous,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I understand and I wasn’t going to say anything, but do you hide your necklace in your shirt? It’s glowing quite bright, is your soulmate here at the school, perhaps?” Diana asked.

“You’re quite perceptive, should’ve expected nothing less from you and yes, that could be the case, anyway, I should be going, ” Professor Ursula said before leaving. 

When Professor Ursula left, Diana looked through another yearbook to try and find Professor Ursula’s name. 

_ “As I expected, she’s looking for the Claiomh Solais.”  _ Professor Ursula thought. 

Professor Ursula remembered back to when she first discovered the Claiomh Solais and how Croix got shocked while trying to touch it. Meanwhile, in the café, the red and green teams were sitting with each other. 

“Our new teacher is amazing,” Akko said. 

“You think so? If you ask me, all this tech is a pain in the butt,” Amanda said while failing at a game on her tablet. 

“Come on, I think it’s fantastic, even the magic world needs to adapt to the times, it’s the way of the future,” Akko said. 

“Really? The future? If that’s what I have to thank for this dumb chore, then count me out,” Amanda said, while just tapping on the tablet screen. 

“But because of that sorcery router thing she invented, all of us will be able to use magic outside of school,” Akko said. 

“Look, they wrote an article about her in the paper,” Lotte said, holding up the newspaper.

She read out the headlines of the article. Then, Coach Nelson appeared in front of them.

“Are you all still playing around with that thing-a-ma-jig?” Coach Nelson asked. 

“Professor, were Chariot and Croix rivals?” Akko asked. 

“Nonsense, there was absolutely no comparison between the two of them,” Professor Finnelan said, walking up to them. 

“Croix was a vastly talented and studious individual, I’m afraid Chariot didn’t do quite as well in her studies,” Coach Nelson said. 

“I will say she was passionate and had a great sense for magic, however, the fact she went on to depict the craft of magic as a means of performing cheap tricks for the amusement of others is simply unforgivable,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“It goes without saying, but she hasn’t exactly garnered a lot of goodwill from her peers as a result,” Coach Nelson said.

“Croix was different, many regarded her as the future leader of the magic world,” Professor Finnelan said. 

Two students were walking across the room talking about an article they were reading on their tablet. Professor Finnelan told them that they were not allowed to use those machines outside of class. 

“Picking up where I left off, the fact Croix has been involved in this magic science she carries is disappointing,” Professor Finnelan continued. 

Akko had already left at this point, she wanted to ask Professor Croix about Chariot, so she went to her classroom. 

“Excuse me, Professor Croix, when you went here, you were Chariot’s senior, right?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, I knew her quite well, her full name was Chariot du Nord, she was a very charming girl, who seemed to have the innate ability to attract all kinds of people to her,” Professor Croix said. 

Akko just looked surprised at this. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just I haven’t heard anyone talk about her as nice as you just did,” Akko said. 

“Oh, yeah, I was one of the closest people to her, in fact, she was my soulmate,” Professor Croix said. 

“Really? Then why is your necklace glowing right now? Chariot has been gone for years, she can’t be here right now, can she? I really want to thank her for inspiring me to pursue my dreams,” Akko said. 

“No, but if you have something happen to have something connected to her, I might be able to analyze it using magic science,” Professor Croix said. 

“How do you mean connected?” Akko asked. 

“Something like…” Professor Croix trailed off. 

“The Shiny Rod, of course, I found it when my friends and I were trapped in the Forest of Arcturus,” Akko said in realization. 

“Did you now?” Professor Croix asked. 

“I’ll go get it,” Akko said. 

Akko was about to leave to go get it when Professor Croix said, 

“The equipment here is insufficient to conduct proper tests, come to the New Moon Tower, after class,” Professor Croix said. 

“New Moon Tower?” Akko questioned. 

“My research lab is there, I’ll be able to accurately analyze the, what did you call it?” Professor Croix asked. 

“It’s the Shiny Rod and I’ll be sure to bring it over,” Akko said before leaving the classroom. 

* * *

Professor Ursula went to Akko’s room to ask where she was but was greeted by Lotte instead. 

“Professor Ursula,” Lotte said. 

“Is Akko here?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“She said she was going to the New Moon Tower,” Lotte said. 

“What brings her there?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“Apparently, Professor Croix asked her to bring the Shiny Rod up to the tower,” Lotte said. 

Professor Ursula gasped and just left the room, she had to save Akko. Meanwhile, Akko had already reached the New Moon Tower, she opened two big doors and walked up some stairs, which revealed Professor Croix’s research lab, it was huge. 

“So you made it, welcome,” Professor Croix said. 

“I brought the Shiny Rod with me, come on let’s analyze it right away,” Akko said. 

Professor Croix was about to grab the Shiny Rod out of Akko’s hands but remembered what happened the last time she tried to do that, so she refrained and asked Akko to put it on the table. The technology on the table lifted up the Shiny Rod and started to analyze it. 

“It looks like the Shiny Rod is most effective when used in conjunction with spirit energy,” Professor Croix said. 

“Right, and that means what?” Akko asked. 

“It means that it responds to the innate spiritual energy of the owner and greatly amplifies their magic power,” Professor Croix said. 

“I still don’t get it,” Akko said. 

“It used to be attuned to the heart of Chariot, but something’s changed,” Professor Croix said. 

“Changed? How so?” Akko asked. 

“Have you ever felt like you were in direct contact with the Shiny Rod?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Uhh, I have, I think so,” Akko said. 

“Why of all people has it chosen to react to you?” Professor Croix asked. 

Akko didn’t answer as Professor Croix cast some sort of spell to read her vitals and memories, which put her to sleep. Professor Ursula, on the other hand, finally approached the New Moon Tower and started running up the stairs but was attacked by traps which shot arrows and had a person with a sword, luckily she avoided them all but not without some struggle, which revealed her natural red hair, and got to the top of the stairs and went into Professor Croix’s lab. 

“Isn’t this a happy reunion, it’s been a while Chariot du Nord,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Ursula looked at her for a minute, with both anger and longing, she wanted to hold her in her arms again and apologize for all she did to her but she also wanted to punch her and curse her out for leaving her like that many years ago. 

“Answer me, Croix. Were you testing me?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“It’s been so long since you abandoned your old name, I thought perhaps you’ve gotten soft over the years, but it appears you have more spunk than I thought,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Ursula looked over to see Akko lying unconscious on a table. 

“Akko! What have you done to her?” Professor Ursula cried out running up to her. 

“I merely acquired her data, since I’ve been observing her covertly for the past few months, however, I’m afraid nothing of value was learned, it was all a grand waste of time,” Professor Croix said. 

“I’m sure I can guess why you came back to Luna Nova, you’re after the world-altering magic, you really haven’t changed one bit,” Professor Ursula said. 

“You’re accusing me of such a thing? I can’t see my soulmate?” Professor Croix asked, kind of heartbroken. 

“If you really cared, you wouldn’t have left in the first place,” Professor Ursula said. 

“What else do you expect? I’ve been by your side the whole time, but you’re not nearly the person you used to be Chariot, or rather, you go by Professor Ursula now. It’s over, there’s nothing you can do to stop me now. Tell me, have you revealed your secret to Akko?” Professor Croix asked before walking away. 

“I might not have the spark I used to, but I will protect Akko’s brilliance with all my might,” Professor Ursula said. 

* * *

Professor Ursula brought Akko to her room. 

“Akko,” she said. 

Akko opened her eyes to see Professor Ursula. She had her normal blue hair again. 

“Is that you Professor Ursula? I think, wasn’t I in Professor Croix’s research lab?’ Akko asked. 

“You weren’t feeling well, so I brought you here to get some rest,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I had this weird dream, Chariot was there and she was talking, something about world magic, I think,” Akko said. 

“Now is as good a time as ever to tell you this, about the true nature of the Shiny Rod, and why it revealed itself to you, and about the Grand Triskelion, a powerful magic said to be able to change the very world itself, which had long been sealed away. Only the Nine Olde Witches are privy to this information,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko stood up from the bed, she wanted to hear this story. Meanwhile, Diana was in her room reading about the same story. 

“The origin of the Grand Triskelion is thousands of years old,” she read. 

Back in Professor Ursula’s room, she cast a spell which showed Akko a vision of the past. 

“Once upon a time, the branches of the great tree Yggdrasil covered the world, they also connected all the stars in the heavens. Witches were able to draw their strength from these branches, as time went on, however, their power began to fade, and eventually, a great era of magic came to a close, the remnants of those branches are what we now know as the leyline, but one last source of their power remains, the final vestiges of their power were sealed away within Arcturus by the Nine Olde Witches, that is the magic that can alter the world, the Grand Triskelion,” Professor Ursula told. 

“How do we break the seal?” Akko asked. 

“When seven unique spells are revived, the Grand Triskelion’s power will be released,” Professor Ursula said as the vision faded back to her room. 

She looked towards a picture on her wall and said,

“You can see the seven words, there, they’re words written in Luna Runes,” 

“I can’t read them at all,” Akko said, looking at them. 

“These characters were used long ago by witches who studied the moon and stars, very few today can decipher it,” Professor Ursula said. 

She walked over to the Shiny Rod and continued speaking, 

“And because of that, no one has been able to read the seven words for quite some time, simply speaking them is insufficient,” 

She picked up the Shiny Rod and walked back to Akko. 

“Only when the person who recites the word breathes life into it, will its true power return,” Professor Ursula said, handing the rod back to Akko. 

“Only when the person brings life into it?” Akko questioned, taking the rod out of Professor Ursula’s hands. 

“You may not realize it, but you’ve revived three of the words already,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Is that true?” Akko asked. 

“You don’t remember? Before you arrived here, while you were in the Forest of Arcturus, you gave life to the first word,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko remembered back to when she was with Lotte and Sucy and she had recited the words which allowed her to be at Luna Nova today. 

“So that was the first of seven words?” Akko asked. 

“The meaning behind it is, aim unto the truest target,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko was surprised but just kept listening to what Professor Ursula had to say.

“Attaining one’s dream is bound to include many difficulties, along the way, at times you may just feel like giving up altogether, but you should never that fire in your heart burn out, keep your passion alive and aim unto your truest target, that is its meaning, ” Professor Ursula continued. 

**“Note Orfei Aude Fraetor,”** Akko recited. 

The ball that correlated to that word lit up. 

“The second word was revived during the blue moon,” Professor Ursula said. 

**“Phaidoari Afairynghor,”** Akko said. 

The second ball lit up. 

“The third one was revived during the Samhain Festival,” Professor Ursula said. 

**“Arae Aryrha,”** Akko said. 

Suddenly, a burst of magic came out of the Shiny Rod. Akko and Professor Ursula were surprised and amazed. 

“You and the Shiny Rod were responsible for reviving those lost words,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I was?” Akko asked. 

Professor Ursula smiled and nodded. 

“There are another four words remaining,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Four more? Where can I find them?” Akko asked. 

“That, you’re just going to have to discover yourself,” Professor Ursula said. 

“What about you? Do you know them?” Akko asked. 

“I do, but I only know the meaning to six of them, the seventh is unknown to me,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Can you at least tell me their meaning?” Akko asked. 

“Soon enough, but I do have a feeling that one of them will be found with your soulmate,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Really?” Akko asked. 

“I’m not certain, but what I do know is that, when you find your way, and revive all seven words, the seal to the Grand Triskelion will be released,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I see, I get it now, I don’t know how I didn’t see it before, Chariot! It was Chariot, she must have been looking for the words too, that’s why she disappeared, to search for them, if I find these words, I’m sure I’ll be able to find Chariot as well. No matter what, I’ll find them both,” Akko declared before heading back to her own room. 

She got to her room and Lotte and Sucy were already sleeping, so she decided to go to bed as well. 


	16. Akko's Greenman Dilemma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of like chapter 11 in a way. It's a chapter just for the sake of having Akko find a word. The next chapter will cover episodes 19 and 20, which gives me an opportunity for writing the ship, which I assume is why you started reading in the first place, so yeah, anyway, enjoy the chapter.

The red team was going to visit Lotte’s family. They traveled through the leyline and reached a quaint little Finnish town, where they walked on foot to Lotte’s family’s shop. What they didn’t know was that back at Luna Nova, Professor Croix was working on a new type of magic that would imitate that of the Shiny Rod’s using little cubes that would turn people’s negative emotions into energy. Anyway, they walked into the shop, where they were met with pretty mundane and everyday items, which led Sucy to say, 

“I thought your family owned a magical item café,” 

Lotte called out that she was home and her parents walked through the back door. 

“Ah! Lotte, you’re finally home, look at you, you’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you,” Mr. Jansson said, lifting up and hugging Lotte.

“Welcome to our home,” Mrs. Jansson said, bowing in front of Akko and Sucy. 

Akko and Sucy bowed down and greeted her as well. 

“You must be Akko,” Mrs. Jansson said, turning her head towards Akko. 

“And your Sucy right?” Mr. Jansson asked her, putting Lotte down. 

“Lotte is always writing to us about the two of you,” Mrs. Jansson said. 

“Well, don’t let us keep you, I bet you’re all starving,” Mr. Jansson said. 

The two of them went to the back where the house was and the red team followed. They sat down on the dining table which had a huge plate of pies. They all grabbed one and started eating but Akko didn’t particularly enjoy it and spit it out into a nearby trash can. Sucy, one the other hand, really enjoyed them. The red team finished their meal and went to the sauna. When they got back, they were surprised to see a pie that was covered turn green and the fact that Lotte’s parents had been turned to moss. They went outside to see that the neighbor also got turned to moss. They returned to the house and found a book that mentioned the disease, it was called Greenman Disease. It was a condition that only happens once every thousand years in very specific conditions in conjunction with the pies that they had earlier. Akko immediately went to the kitchen where the last pie was and threw it away. Lotte kept reading from the book, it says that it can only be cured by a local witch. It was supposed to have been taken care of by Lotte’s mom but she got infected first. This left the red team with retrieving the ingredients for the antidote. There were five ingredients needed, one flake of snow that falls from pine woods, a berry leaf that was blown off by the wind, droppings of a newborn reindeer raised by the Sami people, green amanita, and a medicine capsule made by a yeti. 

“Lotte! Do you have these?” Akko asked. 

“No, but I know where they are,” Lotte said. 

“I’m fairly certain I know where we could get the green amanita, at least,” Sucy said. 

So Lotte and Akko went to find the other ingredients and left Sucy to get the green amanita. They managed to get the snow and berry but couldn’t get the droppings of a reindeer as the person who had one moved, so they went back to the house to meet up with Sucy. She had the mushroom but she had also gotten turned into moss in the process. Akko started shaking Sucy in hopes of getting her out of it, but it didn’t work. Lotte was also turning into moss but before she did fully, she gave Akko the book and told her to find the cure. This left Akko with two ingredients to find on her own. She went on top of the roof to scout out a reindeer, she had binoculars which she looked through. She saw a reindeer through them and started chasing after it, but it kept running away from her, she kept chasing it and ended up in front of the Sami person that Lotte was talking about earlier. 

“Excuse me, sir, are you Nicholas?” Akko asked. 

“Mhm, are you a witch?” Nicholas asked, looking down at Akko’s book. 

After seeing this he let Akko get the reindeer dropping. 

“It isn’t pretty but I got the fourth ingredient, all that’s left is a medicine capsule made by a yeti,” Akko said. 

“You’re going to visit the yeti?” Nicholas asked. 

“You know where it is?” Akko asked. 

“Indeed, he lives at that mountain over there,” Nicholas said, pointing to a mountain in the distance.

Nicholas said that Akko could ride on his sled, so she took it and went to the mountain. She approached an igloo and knocked on the door and it was unlocked, so she opened it. 

“Excuse me, I was wondering if you can help me find something,” Akko said. 

Suddenly the yeti appeared behind her and tapped her shoulder, she jumped forward in surprise and turned around to face it. 

“Oh, sorry to disturb you, but I really need a medicine capsule, can you make me one?” Akko asked. 

The yeti obliged to making it for her but messed up many times and couldn’t do it right, this led to Akko heavily criticizing the yeti and the yeti storming out in frustration. Akko went after him and he showed her his phone which had many mean comments about his work, but Akko just threw his phone and told him not to let those comments get to him and told him that he was a brilliant craftsman, this gave the yeti the motivation he needed to create the capsule. It was a little big in the end, but Akko had to get back to the village, so that didn’t matter as much. The sled she had taken to get the igloo had left, though, so she had to walk back on foot. She started to get down on herself but she had to keep going, it was the only way to save the town. Luckily, Nicholas showed up and took her back, so now she was back in Lotte’s house. She read out what she needed to do to make the antidote and that’s exactly what she did, she grabbed a pot and put it on the burner and put all the ingredients in it and started mixing it with the Shiny Rod. It took quite a long time and she remembered what Professor Ursula had said earlier. 

“In times like these, patience is a virtue, **Mayenab Dysheebudo** ,” She cast as the mixture turned to the rainbow color the book specified. 

The rod turned into a spinning contraption which allowed the mixture to be sprayed everywhere and the people that were infected to turn back to normal, so the red team returned to Luna Nova and went to tell Professor Ursula. 

“You completed your journey, Akko,” Professor Ursula said, holding the Shiny Rod. 

“It was all thanks to Lotte and Sucy,” Akko said, hugging them. 

‘We’re the ones who should be thanking you, Akko,” Lotte said. 

“Nah, now we only have three words left to find, we’re so close I can almost taste it, I’m sure it won’t take very much time to find the rest at this point,” Akko said. 

“Remember your lesson!” Professor Ursula exclaimed. 

“ **Mayenab Dysheebudo,”** Lotte said. 

“That means…” Professor Ursula trailed off. 

“Oh! Right! Patience is a virtue,” Akko said. 

“This will take a while,” Lotte and Sucy said in unison. 

“You might be right,” Akko said. 

Professor Ursula handed Akko back the Shiny Rod and told her that the next word has to do with tradition and history and then they went back to their dorm. 


	17. Cavendish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the title is a ripoff of episode 19, again didn't know what else to name it. Anyway, I think you guys are going to be in for a treat with this one

Diana has to leave Luna Nova, she has to go back to her mansion to participate in the ascension ritual, she can’t let her aunt rule any longer. She was in the headmistress office telling them about this. 

“I’m assuming there’s no way for us to convince you to change your mind about this,” Professor Finnelan said. 

“I am truly grateful for the concern you’ve all shown me, however, after careful consideration, this is the choice I’ve made,” Diana said. 

Meanwhile, Akko was in the café hoping to see if there was anything left to eat, where she found Hannah and Barbara crying. They told her that Diana was leaving Luna Nova. 

“Huh? Diana’s leaving Luna Nova?” Akko asked. 

“Yeah, she got a letter yesterday from her family,” Hannah said. 

“The moment that she read it, she said she needed to go back and become head of the family,” Barbara said. 

_“I refuse to believe that she actually wants to leave,”_ Akko thought. 

“Do you know what happened?” Akko asked. 

“It seems like the Cavendish’s have some problems, the two of us have been hearing a lot of terrible rumors about them as of late,” Barbara said. 

“I still don’t understand, can’t she wait until she finishes school?” Akko asked. 

“Now is the only time she can do it,” Hannah said. 

“The ceremony to elect the head of the family only happens every few years, so she can’t miss it, the both of us knew that she would take over for them someday,” Barbara said.

“We just thought it would happen after she had graduated,” Hannah said. 

“But she’s leaving tonight,” Barbara said. 

“Tonight, at midnight,” Hannah said. 

“And she’ll never be back here again,” Barbara said and started crying again. 

Hannah also just started crying again and Akko left to go see Professor Ursula. She bumped into her while walking in the hallway. 

“Professor,” Akko said. 

“What’s wrong?” Professor Ursula asked. 

Akko didn’t know what changed but she knew that she couldn’t let Diana leave. 

“It’s about Diana, her friends just told me that she’s leaving Luna Nova,” Akko said, starting to break down. 

Professor Ursula just sighed. 

“Wait, you already knew?” Akko asked, regaining her composure. 

“Yes, the Cavendish’s have been having difficulties for a while now,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Why didn’t the faculty try to stop her?” Akko asked. 

“They did, but,” Professor Ursula tried to say but Akko cut her off. 

“Couldn’t the school convince her to stay?” 

Professor Ursula shook her head. 

“We can’t let this happen,” Akko said and then ran off. 

_“You really do care about your soulmate, huh, Akko, even if you don’t know it yet,”_ Professor Ursula thought. 

Akko just went around trying to find Diana, she checked her dorm but she wasn’t there. Sucy and Lotte saw this whole thing. Akko decided to go to the New Moon Tower, where indeed she saw Diana on the platform preparing to leave. 

“Diana! Are you really sure about leaving?” Akko asked. 

Diana just stood there at the edge of the platform not turning around, so Akko continued. 

“I don’t get it, quitting after coming all of this way doesn’t seem like you at all, I know that your family is having trouble, but why do you have to go back now? Can’t your parents at least take care of it until you can finish school?” 

Akko started walking closer to her since Diana hasn’t said anything at all and still continued talking. 

“Then, you can go back and help them out with things, doesn’t that make sense? You should at least think it over. Well! Don’t just stand there and ignore me like that,” 

“Have you no respect for convention? Those who leave Luna Nova are to do so undetected,” Diana said. 

Akko just looked confused. 

“Just talking to you is in breach of that tradition,” Diana said. 

She fully turned around to face Akko and pointed a finger out telling her to leave, Akko just ducked to avoid it and got closer to her. 

“I don’t care about tradition, you can give me as many excuses as you like, but I’m not letting you quit,” Akko said. 

“I should’ve known you’d act this way, you have no regard for rules or rituals, it’s quite vexing,” Diana said. 

She turned back around and continued. 

“The truth of the matter is that I don’t need your permission,” 

“Yeah, well, I’m not just going to stand here and let my rival get away,” Akko said. 

“I have never for a moment thought of you as my rival,” Diana said. 

Akko was kind of irked by this. 

“Now, if you’re quite finished,” Diana said. 

“I can’t believe you really want to do this,” Akko said, looking down, grabbing and fidgeting with the chain of her brightly glowing necklace. 

Diana just sighed and glanced back at her. 

“I know for me, going to Luna Nova was a lifelong dream, I wanted more than anything to go to the same school Chariot went to, but now it’s more than that, the things I’ve experienced here, the people I’ve met, they’ve all become so important to me, I love them all, just like I love Chariot. What about you? Don’t you love Luna Nova? Are you really okay with leaving all of this behind?” Akko asked, looking up at her again. 

_“Me too, Akko, me too. That’s the reason I came here, and yes I do love this place, but I have to leave,”_ Diana thought. 

“Every student has to eventually go out into the world, my time happened to come sooner than later,” Diana said. 

She turned to face Akko again. 

“I’m proud to call myself a member of the Cavendish household, a name of honor and tradition,” Diana said. 

“But why do you have to be the one to do all of that, Diana?” Akko asked. 

“You wouldn’t understand, what do you care about our culture or heritage?” Diana asked. 

“Even so,” Akko said. 

“This isn’t any of your concern, why don’t you go back to looking for the seven words,” Diana said. 

“You know about the words of Arcturus?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, I do, I researched all I could on the subject. The Nine Olde Witches and the Grand Triskelion, long sealed away. I thought that if I could find it, it would help me. If I could learn its power, I would be able to help countless people, I could bring back honor to the world of magic, just as my mother had wished,” Diana said. 

“Then why don’t you go out and search for the words too,” Akko said. 

“Only the person chosen by the Shiny Rod can find the words,” Diana said. 

Akko was surprised and stumbled back a bit. 

“And the Shiny Rod chose you, and you alone,” Diana continued, pointing the end of her broom towards her. 

“Did it really?” Akko asked. 

Diana didn’t answer her but instead mounted her broom. She cast **Tia Freyre** and started hovering. 

“Go back to your studies, become a witch worthy of unsealing the Grand Triskelion. I must admit I will miss it here, all of the teachers and the good friends I’ve made,” Diana said.

“Hang on!” Akko cried out. 

Diana just flew off into the distance and headed towards her house. 

“Goodbye, Luna Nova,” Diana said, shedding tears. 

Meanwhile, Akko went to Professor Ursula’s room and started knocking on it. 

“Professor Ursula, I really need to talk to you,” Akko said. 

She opened the door and let her in. 

“Professor, please tell me where the Cavendish’s live, I need to know,” Akko said, bowing in front of Professor Ursula. 

“What are you planning to do? Her mind is already made up,” Professor Ursula said. 

“You might be right, even so, I have to try,” Akko said, looking back up at her. 

Professor Ursula smiled. 

“The area is called Wedinburgh,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Thank you, so much, Professor,” Akko said.

When she opened the door to leave the room she was faced with Lotte and Sucy. 

“What are you doing here?” Akko asked. 

“Here you go,” Lotte said, handing her the Shiny Rod. 

“Take this too,” Sucy said, handing her a bag. 

“You’re going to bring Diana back right?” Lotte asked. 

“Just be careful,” Sucy said. 

“Thank you guys,” Akko said. 

* * *

Diana got to the Cavendish manor and took a boat through the moat, where she was met with her guard Anna. 

“Welcome home, my lady,” Anna said. 

They walked into the manor. 

“Thank you for keeping me informed, Anna,” Diana said. 

“I am truly sorry, I only wish there had been something we could have done until you graduated,” Anna said. 

“Choosing to attend school was my own selfish endeavor, I should have come to this decision much sooner,” Diana said. 

“I know it had been your dream since you were little,” Anna said. 

“Really, It’s alright, I have gotten to do so many of the things that I wanted, I have to say, things are much worse here than I thought,” Diana said. 

“Most of the servants have left, only a few of the old guards, such as myself, remain,” Anna said. 

Suddenly, a snake slithered up behind Diana, she noticed it before it did anything and cast a spell which pushed it away from her and the snake slithered back to its owner, who happened to be Diana’s aunt Daryl. 

“Well, well, I was wondering who it could be at this hour, is that you, Diana? When I heard footsteps, I was afraid it might be a burglar,” Daryl said. 

“Sorry for startling you, aunt Daryl, it’s been a while,” Diana said. 

“Yes, it sure has been, I’m surprised you came home without any warning, in the middle of the night at that, is it okay with your school to be out like this?” Daryl asked. 

“I had some personal matters to attend to, so I’ll be staying here for a while,” Diana said. 

“That’s wonderful, it just so happens we’re having a guest over, who you know quite well, it’ll prove to be a splendid dinner party,” Daryl said. 

“Who is this guest?” Diana asked. 

“Your fiance and his father, we’re thinking of moving up the wedding,” Daryl said. 

“What? How many times do I have to say it? I don’t want to marry Andrew,” Diana said. 

“It’s the only way, we’ll discuss the matter more tomorrow, it’s getting quite late, don’t you think?” Daryl asked. 

“Yes, I believe you’re right, aunt Daryl,” Diana said. 

“Then I shall see you tomorrow,” Daryl said. 

* * *

It is now the next morning and Akko was on her journey to Wedinburgh. She was just too tired to walk another step. A car started passing by and she lifted up her sign for hitchhiking, but the car went right past her. Another car passed and stopped to let her in, it was Andrew and his father, so now she was stuck in between them. 

_“This is not the situation I thought I’d be in,”_ Akko thought. 

“I knew I’ve seen this one before, she’s the one who ransacked the party, isn’t she?” Paul asked. 

“Did she now? Things did go a bit off-script, but as I recall, everyone had a great time in the end,” Andrew said. 

“So why can’t a witch like yourself fly to Wedinburgh,” Paul asked Akko. 

“Well, it’s a bit embarrassing,” Akko said. 

“Does it really matter? We’re all heading to the same place, after all, just think of it as a bizarre coincidence” Andrew said. 

Paul was watching the news on the little television in the car. It was about people getting worked up over a soccer game. He just turned it off. 

“Why are you guys going to Diana’s house anyway?” Akko asked Andrew. 

“Well, they invited us, it’s most likely about our engagement,” Andrew said. 

“Oh, right, you two are in an arranged relationship,” Akko said. 

“Yeah, I don’t really want to be, but anyway, what brings you to the Cavendish household?” Andrew asked. 

“I’m going there to take Diana back with me,” Akko said. 

They got to the mansion and Diana was in her riding clothes riding her horse Bruno when she saw the car. 

“They’re here,” she said.

The three of them walked into the mansion and were greeted by Daryl, Maril, and Merrill. They knew Andrew and his dad but were surprised to see Akko. 

“Who are you?” Daryl asked. 

“Oh, my name is Atsuko Kagari,” Akko said. 

Suddenly, Diana walked up from behind them. 

“Akko?” Diana asked. 

Akko turned around to look at her. 

“Diana!” Akko exclaimed. 

“Oh, is she a friend of yours?” Daryl asked. 

“What are you doing here?” Diana asked. 

Daryl noticed how bright Akko’s necklace was glowing.

 _“Oh! Her soulmate, that’s no matter to me anyway,”_ Daryl thought. 

“Don’t think I’m going to give up so easily,” Akko said. 

“How many times do I have to tell you until you accept it? Honestly, you’re so unbearable sometimes, and why are the two of you together in the first place?” Diana asked, looking at Andrew and Akko. 

“Well, simple, we picked her up off the side of the road,” Andrew said. 

Daryl clapped to gain their attention.

“Carter, please show Andrew and Mr. Hanbridge to their rooms,” Daryl said. 

“Of course, right away, lady Daryl,” Carter said, guiding the two of them to their rooms.

This left Akko alone with the Cavendish’s. 

“Excuse me, are you really her friend? I can’t say I’ve heard a witch family with your surname,” Daryl said. 

“That’s because I’m not from a witch family,” Akko said. 

“What!?” Daryl asked. 

“She does look like a rather pathetic excuse for a witch,” Maril said. 

“Luna Nova has certainly fallen,” Merrill said. 

Diana was not having this at all.

“As far as I’m considered, you’re an uninvited guest, so I’d like to ask you to leave,” Daryl said. 

Diana suddenly jumped in front of Akko to defend her. 

“She’s an upstanding young witch, I won’t allow you to treat my guest so rudely,” Diana said. 

She grabbed Akko’s wrist and started dragging her to one of the mansion’s rooms, Anna was also there with them. They were in the hallway when Akko said, 

“Man, she’s such a snob, even you’re not nearly as bad as that,” 

Diana turned to face her. 

“Akko! I want you to go back to Luna Nova first thing tomorrow morning, until then, please behave yourself,”

Akko just ignored the subject and instead commented on the mansion. 

“By the way, this mansion is awesome,”

“Honored guest!” Anna said. 

Akko clammed up and said, 

“Yes,” 

“Please take heed of my lady’s words,” Anna said. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Akko said. 

Diana sighed and they just walked to the room. Akko was now wearing a dress and Anna was combing her hair. 

“How unfortunate, it was not my intention with storing this dress to have it worn by some mystery girl from a far off land,” Anna said. 

“You know I can hear you, right?” Akko asked. 

“I’d make sure you hear every word,” Anna said. 

“It’s all right, Anna,” Diana said. 

Anna stopped combing Akko’s hair and turned to face Diana. 

“This was the dress you received from your mother for your eleventh birthday, is that right?” Anna asked Diana. 

“That young?” Akko asked. 

“Naturally it doesn’t fit me anymore and I’d rather she not stay in her dirty uniform while she’s around aunt Daryl,” Diana told Anna. 

Akko looked around the room, it looked like she expected except for a stuffed teddy bear. 

“I didn’t know you liked cute stuff like this,” Akko said pointing at the bear. 

“No, don’t touch that!” Diana cried out. 

Akko backed away from it and Diana grabbed the box that was sitting next to it. The box which held her precious Chariot card from when she was younger and her and her parent’s soulmate necklaces. She left the room to get ready herself, but before she did, she opened the box to see how bright her necklace was glowing. She closed the box and went to a different room. This left Anna and Akko by themselves, Anna was helping Akko with some final touches. 

“Gracious, I’ve never had someone who seemed to be beyond my help. Are you certain you’re a student of Luna Nova?” Anna asked. 

“I get it, you don’t want to do this,” Akko said. 

“That is correct, however, I will still carry out my lady’s orders,” Anna said. 

“Well, sorry to bother you,” Akko said. 

“Kindness is the principle of this family, you should be grateful to my lady,” Anna said. 

Akko remembered back to when she and Diana had first met. 

_“I went after her for dissing Chariot, but she kept evading me and eventually I fell forward, but she caught me and brought me up to a standing position again, then she said, ‘I might think your not worth my time but the Cavendish’s believe in helping everyone, friend or foe.’ I never understood what she meant by that,”_ Akko thought. 

“Kindness? From Diana? You got to be joking,” Akko said. 

“She’s always been a warm and caring individual, she learned it from her mother,” Anna said. 

“Oh yeah, her mother, so then if she’s going to become head of the household, her mom must be gone,” Akko said in a saddening realization. 

“My lady lost both of her parents when she was quite young,” Anna said. 

“I had no idea, I shouldn’t have gone and said all of those things to her,” Akko said. 

“Do you still intend on bringing her back to Luna Nova with you?” Anna asked. 

“Yes, of course,” Akko said. 

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. If she doesn’t become head of the family, the fate of the Cavendish’s is all but over,” Anna said. 

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Akko said. 

“I’m not being dramatic, Daryl’s the one that put Diana and Andrew in this predicament, the only way she can get out of it is by becoming the head of the family, so she wouldn’t have to live under her rule anymore and finally be with who she wants,” Anna said. 

“She’s worse than I thought. She’s the one who put them together?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, so this is our only choice now, and also, our resources are being depleted, so the only way we can get better is if my lady goes through with the ceremony and proceed to rebuild our legacy,” Anna said. 

“I didn’t realize it was that bad,” Akko said. 

* * *

They were now at the dinner party. It started with a toast and then they had dinner. After, they started talking about the engagement. 

“I assume we were invited here to talk about my son’s and your niece’s engagement?” Paul asked Daryl. 

“Straight to the chase, yes, our resources have been depleting faster than I thought, so I want to move up the wedding,” Daryl said. 

“Are you sure? Have the two of them even agreed to this?” Paul asked. 

“No, we haven’t!” Diana and Andrew cried out in unison. 

“This is not up to you,” Daryl said, looking at them. 

“Shouldn’t it be?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, it should,” Diana agreed. 

“Oh, so that’s why you came back here, you’re here to do the ritual,” Daryl said. 

“Yes, I have to, I can’t let you do this to me any longer, can’t you see we don’t want this?” Diana asked. 

“You seem to be the only one who does,” Andrew said, looking at Daryl. 

“You have some nerve if you think I would willingly put my son through this, let’s go, Andrew,” Paul said, getting up to leave. 

“Wait! Please, will you at least negotiate?” Daryl asked. 

“No! I refuse to put my son through this any longer,” Paul said as he left the mansion.

Andrew was still there but was no longer in the room. This left Akko with the Cavendish’s again. She was kind of stuck. Diana stood up to defend herself.

“You have some nerve, thinking I would want to be with Andrew, all he has going for him is his money. I would rather want to be with Akko, at least she has a nice personality, she stands up for what she believes, is reckless but also cares and her smile lights up a room,” 

“What are you even saying? You would rather be with this girl of no status, then Andrew?” Daryl asked, looking at Akko. 

“Yes, she came all this way to try and make me go back to Luna Nova, I can’t say the same about Andrew,” Diana replied. 

“So, you’re really going through with this?” Daryl asked. 

“Yes, tonight we shall conduct the ceremony, and from that moment on _I’ll_ be head of the Cavendish’s,” Diana declared. 

_“Woah! Diana really did that. Did she admit that she would rather be with me? That’s crazy, she must not really think that, does she?”_ Akko thought. 

* * *

Diana was now walking with Anna towards where the ceremony would be held. Andrew was also there, but this was purely out of courtesy. Akko ran up to her. 

“Diana! Wait! This all feels like it’s happening too fast, let’s just slow down. I really think we should talk things over a little longer, are you sure this is what you want?” Akko asked. 

“I told you, you have no say in the matter, I’ve already decided,” Diana said. 

“Yeah, but..” Akko trailed off. 

“You are correct, but she did come all this way for a chance to talk to you, why don’t you listen to what she has to say,” Andrew said. 

_“You’re right, she did come all this way, but that doesn’t change the fact that my mind is already made up,”_ Diana thought. 

“I don’t have any more time to spare,” Diana said. 

She went on ahead of them, so Akko and Andrew were left trailing behind. 

“Just think it over, Diana, isn’t there more you want to do at Luna Nova?” Akko asked. 

_“Yes, there’s a lot more I would love to do, but I have to put that behind me,”_ Diana thought.

“No there isn’t,” Diana said. 

Akko and Andrew walked up to the door where the ceremony was to try and catch her but Diana had already entered. 

“The only people who can enter the sanctuary are members of the Cavendish family,” Anna said. 

“She seemed to be a little bit of a rush, was there any reason for that?” Andrew asked. 

“Allow me to explain, every few years, the horn of the white unicorn serves as a beacon for the sanctuary, when the light from the Audula Venus concealed, only then can one enter and swear an oath to the souls of their ancestors, becoming head of the family,” Anna said. 

“What’s the Audula Venus?” Akko asked. 

“It most likely refers to the planet, of course, tonight is the Venus Eclipse,” Andrew said. 

“What’s that?” Akko asked. 

“It’s when Venus passes over the moon, becoming essentially invisible,” Andrew said. 

“That’s really tonight?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, and because these conditions are only satisfied once every few years, we must seize this opportunity,” Anna said. 

Meanwhile, inside, Diana was faced with an uncompleted bridge, she cast a spell which rose tendrils from the ground, creating a bridge. She walked across it, but when she got to the other side, a snake showed up, she tried to ward it off with her wand, but that didn’t work as the snake started coiling around her body, leading her to drop her wand, she realized that it was Daryl’s snake and, just then Daryl appeared in front of her.

“How very foolish of you, a witch who can’t use their powers is still but a child and a child is not fit to lead this family, stay there and mull things over,” Daryl said to Diana who was now fully trapped by the snake. 

Back outside, Andrew saw his dad driving off and Akko was standing by the edge of a balcony. 

“My father sure left in a hurry, not surprised really, he has always been short-tempered,” Andrew said. 

He walked over to Akko who was looking at the night sky. 

“Thinking about Diana? Why are you trying so hard to take her back? Is she like your soulmate or something? You two weren’t exactly the best of friends though,” Andrew said.

“No, I guess we weren’t,” Akko said. 

“Diana’s not the type of person to act irrationally, I’m sure she put a lot of thought into this,” Andrew said. 

“Yeah, I know,” Akko said. 

“You and I both know she’s too bullheaded to change her mind,” Andrew said. 

Akko sighed.

“She’s already given us her answer, the only choice left now is to respect her decision, right,” Andrew continued. 

“No! Everything you said makes sense, but I still can’t go along with it, it just doesn’t feel right that she’s leaving school,” Akko said. 

“Don’t you think you’re acting a little bit selfish here?” Andrew asked. 

“You might be right, but I know in my heart that she doesn’t actually want to leave Luna Nova, even if she won’t admit it,” Akko said. 

“What makes you so certain of that?” Andrew asked. 

“You said it yourself, she doesn’t change her mind once it’s made up if she decided to go to Luna Nova, she’d want to graduate, so why is she quitting now?” Akko asked. 

“Well, I,” Andrew started before Akko cut him off. 

“I know she was basically a genius from the beginning and maybe there wasn’t a lot she could learn, but there’s no way she would go to Luna Nova without a reason. She was researching the seven words and the Grand Triskelion, I’m sure she was planning to do something with them, something really really important,” 

“You actually think she was a genius from the beginning? Perhaps it looks that way to you, but in actuality, there was a time where she couldn’t use magic,” Andrew said. 

“What?” Akko asked. 

“It was when she was little, my memory’s a bit cloudy. All these grownups used to gossip about how she might not ever be able to ever use magic,” Andrew said. 

“Really?” Akko asked. 

“It’s true, but she never let that stop her, instead of playing with the other kids, she spent all of her free time practicing and working on her magic with every bit of her being, though I never understood why she was so passionate about magic,” Andrew said. 

“I never knew that,” Akko said. 

“You might be onto something, she probably had a good reason for wanting to attend your school. Once the ceremony ends, however, Diana will lead the Cavendish family, that was also her decision and one that she alone can make,” Andrew said. 

“But, still,” Akko was about to say but heard voices. 

Akko and Andrew jumped over the balcony to stand on the ledge. 

“Don’t you remember what mother told us,” Maril said. 

“Yes, but we’re dealing with Diana here, I’m just a little worried,” Merrill said. 

“I know what you mean,” Maril said. 

“I really despise that girl, she’s so precocious, I wish I could’ve taken care of her myself,” Merril said. 

“I don’t think you would’ve stood a chance against Diana,” Maril said. 

“I know that,” Merrill said. 

Daryl emerged from the walls and Maril and Merill went up to her. 

“Mother,” the two of them said in unison. 

“Didn’t I tell you two to wait in your rooms until this was over?” Daryl asked. 

“We got too anxious waiting for you,” Maril said. 

“How did all of it go?” Merrill asked. 

“I was honestly expecting more of a challenge,” Daryl said. 

“You’re incredible,” Maril and Merril said in unison. 

“But mother, are you sure she’s been taken care of?” Maril asked. 

“Yeah, she probably has the ability to undo your magic,” Merril said. 

“Not to worry, there’s no one on earth who can escape from my serpent. Diana won’t even get to the sanctuary let alone complete the ceremony before it’s too late,” Daryl said. 

Andrew and Akko gasped. 

“I can’t wait to see that proud look wiped clean off her face tomorrow morning,” Daryl continued. 

Akko and Andrew heard enough and ran back to where the door was. Anna was sitting on a chair in front of it. She stood up when she saw Akko. 

“What on earth are you doing here at this time of night?” Anna asked. 

“Please! You have to let me in there, Diana’s in trouble,” Akko said. 

“That’s impossible,” Anna said. 

“No, it’s true,” Andrew said. 

“Lord Andrew,” Anna said. 

“We overheard Daryl and her daughters talking about it, she did something to prevent her from completing the ceremony,” Andrew said. 

“Lady Daryl did?” Anna asked. 

“She said she wouldn’t have time to make it to the sanctuary, it’s just on the other side of this wall, right? Can’t you let the two of us through?” Akko asked. 

“Nonsense, tradition states you must be a Cavendish in order to enter,” Anna said. 

“This is not the time to follow traditions, Diana could be in danger,” Akko said. 

“She’s right, if something’s happened to her, we might already be too late,” Andrew said. 

“But, it says that a terrible misfortune will be inflicted upon those who interfere with the ceremony,” Anna said. 

Akko just ignored this and started pushing on the door, Andrew also helped her. They opened the door a crack and Akko went through, Andrew was about to go through as well, but Akko stopped him. 

“I’ll take care of it from here,” Akko said. 

“Huh? Hang on,” Andrew said. 

“Don’t forget I’m still a witch, after all, I can handle this, I’ll be sure to bring Diana back,” Akko said. 

“All right, then,” Andrew said. 

“No, please, young miss, you really mustn’t,” Anna said. 

Akko just ran off and yelled back, 

“You know what they say, rules are meant to be broken!” 

She got to the bridge and cast **Metamorphie Faciesse** which turned her into a mouse, which allowed her to cross it easily, but along the way she got thrown around by the snake that was holding Diana. She cast **Metamorphie Faciesse** again which turned her into a bird to fly over the snake and then cast it again to turn into a flying elephant to sit on the snake, this action released Diana from its hold and the snake started biting Akko, she turned into a turtle and its shell was strong enough to cover from the biting, she started retracting into the shell as the snake got closer to her face. Luckily, Diana got up and cast a spell that got the snakes away from Akko. Akko turned back into herself and was now lying unconscious. Diana got up close to her and even in Akko’s unconscious state, her necklace was glowing really bright. 

“Hey, Akko, please! Just hang on,” Diana cried out, before taking her to a special underground hospital. 

* * *

Akko was now laying on a table. She opened her eyes to a slight clinking sound. 

“Are you awake?” Diana asked. 

Akko sat up on the table. 

“Diana,” Akko said. 

“It seems your recklessness knows no bounds,” Diana said. 

“I just wanted to help you, that’s all,” Akko said. 

“I don’t doubt that, I meant what I said earlier, you’re reckless but you also care, there’s really no telling what you’ll get yourself into,” Diana said. 

Akko realized why she did this. 

“Diana! Your ceremony,” Akko said. 

“Even if I were to head to the sanctuary now, I wouldn’t make it in time,” Diana said. 

“What? No way! Why didn’t you go on without me? I thought you wanted to take over your family,” Akko said. 

“I wasn’t about to just leave you there wounded like that, besides, didn’t you seek to stop me from participating in the ceremony in the first place?” Diana asked.

“Well, I guess that’s true, I’m really sorry,” Akko apologized. 

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault, the truth is I was simply not capable enough,” Diana said. 

Akko didn’t know what to say, so instead, she asked, 

“So, what is this place?”

“It used to serve as a corporate hospital, spanning all the way back to the medieval ages, whenever a war would break out in the area, our ancestors would treat those in need with magic, regardless of whether they were civilians, soldiers, friends, or enemies,” Diana told. 

“Enemies?” Akko asked. 

“Mhm, whoever needed treatment, not everyone approved of such practices, which is why we had to work very hard to keep this place secret,” Diana said. 

“I didn’t know of any of that,” Akko said. 

Diana just walked off into the next room, which happened to be a library. Akko got up and followed her. 

“Wow!” Akko said, astonished. 

“One thousand five hundred years of Cavendish history can be found in this library. These books detail our research on healing magic from long ago. In the wake of medical science, however, most of this history was lost,” Diana said. 

Akko looked around the library and then up at a statue in the middle of it. 

“Is that one of the Nine Olde Witches?” Akko asked. 

“Beatrix the Compassionate, the matriarch of the Cavendish family, her magic was responsible for the salvation of countless lives, she is the founder of our tradition of kindness. Things have been peaceful now, so this place really hasn’t been needed. My mother Bernadette worked hard as a peacemaker until the day she died, ” Diana said. 

“Can I ask what happened?” Akko asked. 

“Her health was in poor condition and in addition to that, she exerted herself way too much. All of the incredible work my mother and ancestors have done for the sake of humanity, I couldn’t be prouder to call myself a Cavendish. That’s why I wanted so badly to protect, to save this house,” Diana said. 

Akko turned to her and grabbed her hands. She turned to look at her crying. 

“You can’t give up now, you can still save this house, Diana,” Akko said.

Diana averted her eyes. 

“No, it’s too late now, I’d never make it time,” Diana said. 

Akko brought her face closer to Diana’s. 

“You’ll never actually know that if you don’t at least try! I’m positive there’s a way,” Akko said. 

Diana tried to back up, but Akko just kept holding her hands. 

“I never knew you had something so important to you. I think it’s wonderful, I really do, so please, whatever you do, don’t give up on your dream, you have to protect what you love,” Akko said. 

“Akko,” Diana said. 

“Once you do, please come back to school,” Akko continued. 

Diana just looked confused. 

“You can work on both your family and your studies, that would be awesome,” Akko said. 

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Diana said. 

Akko brought her face even closer, to the point where their noses touched for a brief second. 

“Course you could, there’s no doubt about it in my mind, believing in yourself is your magic,” Akko said. 

“Believing in myself is my magic,” Diana said. 

Suddenly, the Shiny Rod started glowing. 

“The Shiny Rod! Is the word near?” Akko asked. 

“An old tradition and a new power will cross to open the door to the unseen world,” Diana said. 

“Huh?” Akko asked. 

“It’s an old saying that’s been passed down for many generations,” Diana said. 

“The fifth word is supposed to be related to tradition,” Akko said. 

“Akko, repeat this, **Sybilladura Lelladybura,** ” Diana said. 

Akko nodded and held out the Shiny Rod in front of her. Diana said the words again. 

**“Sybilladura,”**

**“Sybilladura,”** Akko repeated.

**“Lelladybura,”**

**“ Lelladybura,”** Akko said and pointed the Shiny Rod up to the sky. 

It turned into a broom. 

“Look at that, it’s Chariot’s broom, Shiny Balai,” Akko said. 

The broom floated down to them. 

“Go and use it, Diana,” Akko said. 

“An old tradition and a new power, a door to the unseen world,” Diana said. 

She smiled and then mounted the broom. She then turned to Akko and extended her hand. 

“Come on, Akko, why don’t we go together,” 

Akko nodded and also got on the broom. Diana cast **Tia Freyre** and the broom started speeding up, Akko held tight onto Diana’s waist as the broom speeded out of the library and back outside. There was still a little bit of time left, so she flew to the sanctuary, she almost got there when she was stopped by Daryl, Maril, and Merril, they cast a spell which imitated snakes, but Diana just flew right through it. They landed at the sanctuary and Daryl, Maril, Merrill tried to stop her, but they got caught by the sanctuary. Diana cast a spell to release them, but by that time it was too late for her to finish the ceremony, but Beatrix appeared in front of her for a few moments before disappearing. 

* * *

Although Diana failed, Daryl still reluctantly agreed to stop pressuring her into marrying Andrew and gave her the freedom she so desired. It was now the morning and Diana was standing at the balcony. Anna and the other guards and servants appeared behind her. 

“My lady,” Anna said. 

“I wasn’t able to finish the ceremony, it was my choice to abandon it at the last moment. I don’t regret my decision,” Diana said. 

“My lady, I think it’s time that you took this back once and for all, there is no need to hide your true feelings any longer, go and make your childhood dream a reality, take this back with you to Luna Nova, please don’t take this the wrong way but I believe you no longer have any reason to stay here,” Anna said, holding up the box that had her Chariot card and her and parent’s necklaces. 

“Anna,” Diana said. 

“Until the day you decide to return to this mansion we will do our part to keep it safe and sound, with that assurance in mind, please go out and live your life as you wish,” Anna said. 

“Everyone, thank you,” Diana said, bowing her head down. 

Akko was watching this from a distance, then walked up to them. Diana took the box and the two of them left to go back to Luna Nova. Andrew left as well and noticed that Akko accidentally left her witch hat in his car, but that was something Akko could have cared less about at the moment. Diana and Akko were now flying on a broom together. 

“Thanks for giving me a ride,” Akko said. 

“You’re welcome,” Diana said. 

They were now riding in silence and Akko could hear just how fast Diana’s heart was beating. Akko thought she heard it earlier but just chalked it up to adrenaline, but now it was calm, so it seemed weird, she decided to ask. 

“Diana, your heart is racing,” Akko said. 

_“Of course, that’s what she would hear, I don’t even know how to explain it, what should I answer?”_ Diana thought. 

“I apologize, I wasn’t aware, is it bothering you?” Diana asked. 

“No, I was just curious, it’s quite calming actually,” Akko said. 

Akko put her head on Diana’s shoulder and started nodding off. 

“Akko?” Diana asked. 

“Sorry, I don’t know how to explain it, but, somehow, I guess, I feel comfortable,” Akko said. 

“Okay, then, sleep if you wish, I’ll wake you when we get back,” Diana said. 

So Akko just rested her head on Diana’s shoulder and slept. Diana was quite flustered by this but she didn’t let that get to her and just kept flying back to Luna Nova. 


	18. The Wagandea Tree

Akko was back in Professor Ursula’s room with the Shiny Rod. 

“I can’t believe you managed to bring Diana back and on top of that you revived the fifth word,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I was pretty surprised myself, so there are now only two words left to find,” Akko said. 

“You’ve reached the sixth word,” Professor Ursula said, looking at the painting of the words. 

“How do you even pronounce the sixth word?” Akko asked. 

“ **Lyonne,”** Professor Ursula said. 

“That’s it? It’s short,” Akko said. 

“ **Lyonne** is probably one of the most important words of all, only those who truly understand its meaning will be able to follow the path it reveals,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Professor Ursula, do you know anything about this important word?” Akko asked. 

“Huh? Like I’ve told you before, you must feel the word in your heart, only then will you be able to breathe life into it,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Yeah, yeah, I remember, but I feel like I’m so close to finding Chariot. This next word was the last one she collected, right?” Akko asked. 

“Yes,” Professor Ursula said. 

“ **Lyonne** , one of the most important words,” Akko said, before leaving to go to the library. 

She sat down in the library and started looking at books to try and find the word, but couldn’t find anything. Hannah and Barbara walked up to her. 

“Akko,” Hannah said to grab her attention. 

“Yeah, what’s up?” Akko asked. 

“I didn’t expect you to actually use the library,” Hannah said. 

“Course I do, is there a problem?” Akko asked. 

“Not really,” Hannah said. 

“Then what do you want?” Akko asked. 

“To thank you,” Hannah and Barbara said in unison. 

“Huh?” Akko asked. 

“You helped bring Diana back,” Barbara said. 

“Oh, yeah,” Akko nodded. 

“We thought maybe we should thank you,” Hannah said. 

“You don’t have to thank me, I wanted to,” Akko said. 

“But we weren’t able to do it, we appreciate it, so thank you,” Barbara said. 

“Well, I, you’re welcome, I guess,” Akko said. 

“That’s all we had to say, see you,” Hannah said. 

“Also, I think your roommate, Lotte, is really cool,” Barbara said. 

“Oh, and your friend from the green team, Amanda, ain’t that bad either,” Hannah said. 

They had nothing else to say so they walked away. 

_ “Well, that was weird,”  _ Akko thought. 

She just smiled and went back to looking at her books, but then Professor Croix showed up behind her. 

“Wow! You’re studying in the library, Akko?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Is it really so weird for people to see me in here?” Akko asked, putting her head on the table. 

“Are you continuing your research on the next word?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Well, I’m trying, but I can’t seem to find anything, Professor Croix, do you know anything about  **Lyonne** ?” Akko asked. 

“ **Lyonne** , I believe that’s the sixth word Chariot found, yes?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Yeah, that’s it,” Akko said, lifting her head up from the table. 

“Yes, I’ve heard about it, I recall Chariot found that word at Wagandea,” Professor Croix said. 

“Wagandea,” Akko said and then proceeded to flip through pages of a book on the table. 

“What is this?” Akko asked when she got to the page. 

“It’s the legendary tree Wagandea, Chariot once climbed up the tree and there she discovered the sixth word,” Professor Croix said. 

“She did?” Akko asked. 

She left the library and went to talk to Professor Ursula. 

“I want to climb the Wagandea Tree,” Akko said. 

“You can’t,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Why not? Chariot climbed that tree, right?” Akko asked. 

“It’s not a good time, Wagandea will soon open its buds and its pollen will spread, the pollen is extremely poisonous to witches and if you touch it the damages are irreversible,” Professor Ursula said. 

“It’s poisonous to witches?” Akko asked. 

“I didn’t tell you about it because I knew if you’d heard, you’d want to go see it right away. Wait, who told you?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“Professor Croix,” Akko said. 

“Croix did?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“So, how long will the pollen be there for?’ Akko asked. 

“A few weeks at the very least, but sometimes it’s a few months, and while it’s rare it’s lasted a few years before,” Professor Ursula said. 

“That long?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, but that usually doesn’t happen that often, normally it lasts a month, either way, you should wait,” Professor Ursula said. 

“If I went now, I could do it before the pollen spreads,” Akko said. 

“It’s still dangerous, the buds could open at any moment now,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Please, Professor, I just want to go and check it out, I’d come right back,” Akko said. 

“Akko! I thought you learned about patience. You have to do what you can, even if it means waiting, that is the kind of witch you must be. Until you become a witch worthy of the words, I can not take you to Wagandea,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko looked saddened and just went to the café. She put her head on the table and talked with Lotte and Sucy. 

“I can’t believe what a worrywart Professor Ursula is. She’s way too timid and doesn’t take any risks, why is she so lame?” Akko asked. 

“Oh, don’t say things like that, she’s just concerned about you, Akko, also, I think you shouldn’t be so hasty all the time,” Lotte said. 

“Yeah, but, I might not be able to go for a few years, I can’t wait that long,” Akko stood up and said and then sat back down. 

“But that’s not something that happens very often, right?” Lotte asked. 

“Well, by this point you should know my luck, with me, what can go wrong will go wrong,” Akko said. 

“Is that really something to act proud of?” Sucy asked. 

“Better to regret something you’ve done rather than something you haven’t, it’s a good thing to be courageous, okay,” Akko said. 

Little did they know, Diana was standing behind them the whole time. 

“You’re confusing courageousness with recklessness, you know they say if a witch touches the Wagandea Tree’s pollen, she will lose her magic power and the ability to fly forever and though it looks like you might not be able to fly right now, you might be able to someday if you keep working hard, I doubt you’d want to lose the possibility, right? So, don’t you think you should listen to Professor Ursula?” Diana asked and then walked away. 

“Her tone sounded kind of harsh, but I think she was also a little concerned for you, Akko, don’t you think?” Lotte asked. 

“That’s nice,” Sucy commented. 

_ “Yeah,”  _ Akko thought. 

She left the café and went to talk to Professor Croix again. 

“Oh, so that’s what Professor Ursula said to you then?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Yeah, all of this happened after you told me about the Wagandea Tree,” Akko said. 

“But it is a little odd, there is still a little bit of time left until the pollen releases,” Professor Croix said. 

“What?” Akko asked. 

“Professor Ursula can be a little disorganized, she might be confused about the timing of it,” Professor Croix said. 

“Is that really true?” Akko asked. 

“Why don’t we go check it out together? After all, seeing is believing,” Professor Croix said. 

“Wait, for real?” Akko asked. 

“I’ll gladly take you to Wagandea if you’d really like to go,” Professor Croix said. 

Back in Professor Ursula’s room, she was looking at a picture of her and Croix together. She remembered back to when they were at the Wagandea Tree together. She got knocked out of her thoughts by Alcor, her familiar, screeching at her. 

“What’s wrong Alcor?” Professor Ursula asked. 

Alcor kept screeching and Professor Ursula understood. 

“Croix took Akko?” Professor Ursula asked. 

Indeed that is what happened, so now Croix and Akko are riding in the leyline to the Wagandea Tree on Professor Croix’s magical flying units. 

“Say Akko, what is your reason for finding the seven words?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Huh?” Akko asked. 

“When you collect all seven of the words, the Grand Triskelion will be released and you’ll be granted the power of world-altering magic, when you do this, what is it that you’ll think you’ll wish for?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Well, honestly I really haven’t thought about it much, it’s too confusing,” Akko replied. 

“Oh,” Professor Croix said. 

“Actually, the main reason I’m collecting the words is because I want to meet Chariot,” Akko said. 

“So, this is all to meet Chariot?” Professor Croix asked. 

“I know if I keep looking for all the words, I’m sure to wind up meeting her someday,” Akko said. 

“You really like Chariot that much?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Yes! I have so many questions I want to ask and things I want to tell her when I meet her, but most of all I just really want to say thank you,” Akko said. 

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll meet her soon,” Professor Croix said. 

“I will?” Akko asked. 

“Definitely,” Professor Croix said. 

They exited the leyline and got to the Wagandea Tree. 

“Woah!” Akko said, amazed. 

“Just as I thought. Looks like there’s still time before the buds open,” Professor Croix said. 

“Wait, really? Awesome!” Akko exclaimed. 

“Still, it’s odd, I don’t know why Professor Ursula would stop you from coming here without checking first,” Professor Croix said. 

“I’m not sure,” Akko said. 

“I have to wonder if there’s some reason why she didn’t want you to climb up the tree, there are a few things that I just don’t quite understand about Ursula,” Professor Croix said. 

“What do you mean exactly?” Akko asked. 

“Well, she supposedly was Chariot’s classmate, but I can’t seem to recall any student by the name of Ursula,” Professor Croix said. 

“I’m sure it was because she didn’t leave much of an impression, especially compared to someone like Chariot,” Akko said. 

“That might be the case, but still, just be careful around her,” Professor Croix said. 

“What?” Akko asked. 

“Ursula might be hiding something from you, something very important,” Professor Croix said. 

“I’m sure she was just worried about me because it’s dangerous here, she knows I tend to be a little reckless,” Akko laughed nervously. 

“In order to discover the word, you have to climb the tree on your own, without using any magic or tools, knowing that, will you still do it?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Yes, no matter what it takes, I’ll do it,” Akko said. 

Akko started climbing the tree and Professor Ursula flew through the leyline and headed for it as well, but one of Professor Croix’s magic units came at her, leading her to barrel roll and fall close to the tree. She was now on the ground and Professor Croix was in front of her. 

“This seems familiar, doesn’t it, Chariot? Do you remember when we first came to this forest? I remember it very vividly, how could I forget,” Professor Croix said. 

She remembered back to the time when they were at the forest in front of the Grand Triskelion seal, where the stars above blessed Chariot with the Claiomh Solais. 

“Croix, don’t interfere,” Professor Ursula said, getting up, but the magic unit knocked her to the ground again. 

“You’re worried, aren’t you, Croix, you’re afraid Akko will be the one to release the Grand Triskelion,” Professor Ursula continued. 

“Afraid?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Even if you try to stop Akko, you won’t get the Grand Triskelion, but you should already know that,” Professor Ursula said. 

Professor Croix looked at Professor Ursula’s brightly glowing necklace and smirked. 

“She doesn’t even understand what it means to have the Grand Triskelion in the least, it seems the rod chose the wrong person, just like last time. But, I don’t really care, as it turns out, I don’t actually need the Shiny Rod,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Ursula looked surprised at this. 

“Do you know the reason I keep interfering? It’s because Akko is your last chance for your dream,” Professor Croix said, then flew away on her magical units, leaving Professor Ursula on the ground. 

Akko was now further up the tree, she slipped but grabbed a branch and climbed back up. Suddenly, a magic hand type thing tried to grab at her. Luckily, Professor Ursula flew up and shot at it. 

“Professor!”Akko exclaimed, holding on to the tree. 

“Come on, Akko, let’s go, please take my hand,” Professor Ursula said, extending her hand. 

Akko batted her hand away. 

“No! I already came all this way. You were wrong, Professor. Professor Croix told me that the pollen won’t start for a while,” Akko said. 

“Wait! That’s not true, it starts blooming at the top, you’ve got to believe me,” Professor Ursula said. 

“So you’re saying, Professor Croix, lied to me?” Akko asked. 

“You don’t know Croix like I do, please come with me,” Professor Ursula said. 

“But I’ve seen them, I know the pollen won’t spread yet, they’re still only buds,” Akko said. 

“Akko, please listen,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Why won’t you let me do this?” Akko asked. 

“What?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“You don’t understand how I feel, Professor, how much I want to meet Chariot, I’m not doing this for the words, I just want to meet her, that’s why I’ve been searching for them, just like you told me to, so I don’t get it, why are you trying to stop me?” Akko asked, breaking down. 

Professor Croix flew up to meet Akko as well. 

“Akko,” Professor Croix said. 

“Croix,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I’ll explain everything to Professor Ursula, you just go on ahead,” Professor Croix said. 

“Thanks so much, Professor Croix,” Akko said and then went on climbing the tree. 

_ “That was weird, both of their necklaces were glowing really bright, I wonder, are they soulmates? That can’t be right, Professor Croix said Chariot was her soulmate, unless… no, I can’t think about this right now,”  _ Akko thought. 

Akko kept climbing the tree and Professor Ursula tried to go after her but was stopped by Professor Croix. 

“Croix, please move,” Professor Ursula pleaded. 

“Not so fast, you’re staying here,” Professor Croix said. 

Her robots started attacking Professor Ursula but she evaded them. The robots combined together to form one big one that ate Professor Ursula, but she cast a spell, it took all the power out of her and she started falling, Professor Croix went after her and started yelling out her name. 

“Chariot!” 

Professor Ursula just kept falling. 

“Chariot!” 

Professor Ursula was about to hit the ground but luckily she heard Professor Croix and used her broom to keep herself from falling to the ground and now she was standing on the ground. 

“The pollen is about to begin spreading, you should just forget about helping her now, it’s too late,” Professor Croix said. 

“I will protect Akko,” Professor Ursula said between breaths. 

She started flying up again. 

“That’s crazy,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Croix’s robots appeared again but she just said cancel. Akko kept going up the tree but noticed that the pollen was now spreading from above, she fell off the tree and started falling to her doom, but luckily, Professor Ursula flew up to help her but was hit with the Wagandea pollen. She flew straight through it and they both crashed on the ground, luckily they were both alright. Akko woke up and saw Professor Ursula lying next to her. 

“Professor Ursula,” Akko said. 

Professor Ursula opened her eyes to see Akko. 

“Akko, are you alright?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“Professor, I’m so so sorry, I said all of those terrible things to you, and yet you still came to save me,” Akko said. 

Professor Ursula remembered back to when she received the Shiny Rod, she thought that Croix should’ve been the one that got it, but Croix just hugged her and told her to accept it. All she wanted was to be in the arms of her soulmate again, but she knew that things could never be like they were before, between the two of them. Professor Ursula hugged Akko. 

“All this time, I’ve been unfairly pushing my own wish on to you, I should’ve considered how you truly feel,” Professor Ursula said. 

“That’s not true, you never pushed anything, I chose to collect the words on my own. Even though I’ve been through so much and have had so many experiences, I still really haven’t grown at all, I didn’t mean to say such mean things to you, you’ve always been there to help me, Professor, you’ve always been by my side, so that’s why what I really want to say is thank you,” Akko said. 

The Shiny Rod started glowing. 

**“Lyonne,”** Professor Ursula said. 

The magic enveloped the two of them. 

“I see, so that’s the true meaning of  **Lyonne** ,” Akko said. 

The magic from the Rod healed Professor Ursula and Akko looked at the Wagandea Tree in the distance.

“No one has ever seen what the top of Wagandea looks like, who knows how high it goes? Akko, you really are growing into a fine person,” Professor Ursula said. 

Meanwhile, back in Professor Croix’s lab, she’s been preparing something of her own. A replica of the Shiny Rod, that uses its own power, which she will use to break the seal of the Grand Triskelion herself. 


	19. Professor Ursula's Real Name

Professor Ursula stood in her room looking at the picture of her and Croix. 

_ “I can’t ignore Croix’s actions any longer. I must put an end to this before it’s too late, I never thought this day would come, I have to tell Akko everything,”  _ Professor Ursula thought. 

Andrew stood in his father’s office. The riots over this soccer game have gotten worse. He tried to talk but got immediately shot down by his father and another man who was also in the room. They finished talking and Andrew went back to his room, he looked at Akko’s witch’s hat and saw Diana’s owl outside the window. He wondered if she could help him in regards to returning Akko’s hat. Back at Luna Nova, Diana knocked on the red team’s door in hopes of seeing her, instead, Lotte answered. 

“Diana?” Lotte questioned. 

“Hello, Lotte, is Akko here?” Diana asked. 

“Diana’s looking for Akko, she must be plotting something,” Sucy said from behind mixing her potions. 

“Quiet, Sucy,” Lotte whispered to her. 

“She’s actually with Professor Ursula, right now,” Lotte told Diana. 

“Oh, is that so?” Diana asked. 

Indeed it was, Akko went to see if Professor Ursula was better after the Wagandea incident. 

“Thank goodness, it looks like you're okay,” Akko said. 

“I told you, you don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine, it was only a little scratch after all,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I just, I feel responsible for what happened that day,” Akko said. 

“Now, now, I told you that it wasn't your fault. It’s good that you came to see me, there’s something I want to tell you,” Professor Ursula said. 

“What is it?” Akko asked. 

“Listen, Akko, this is regarding the seventh word,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Huh?” Akko asked. 

**“Phasansheer Shearylla,”** Professor Ursula said. 

**“Phasansheer Shearylla** ?” Akko asked. 

“It’s meaning I haven’t figured out,” Professor Ursula said. 

“You don’t know?” Akko asked. 

“Just remember to find the last word, the answer lies within your heart,” Professor Ursula said. 

“It lies in my heart?” Akko asked. 

“The day the seventh star shines recite the spell of the last word,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Right,” Akko said in affirmation. 

Professor Ursula was about to say something else but got interrupted by Lotte knocking on her door. 

“Is Akko in there?” Lotte asked. 

“Lotte?” Akko asked. 

She opened the door and Sucy and Diana were also there with her. 

“Wait, Diana too?” Akko asked again. 

“I have a message from Andrew, he says he’ll be waiting for you at High Street,” Diana said. 

“Huh? You mean today? But why?” Akko asked. 

“I guess he wants to give you something,” Sucy said. 

“Really? Wonder what it is. So what time?” Akko asked. 

“At three o clock,” Lotte said. 

“That soon?” Professor Ursula said, looking at her clock. 

“You’ll barely make it,” Sucy said. 

Akko stood up from her chair. 

“Oh, no!” Akko exclaimed. 

“It’s all right, we can continue talking later when you get back,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko clapped her hands together and said thank you before leaving the room. Sucy and Lotte also left but Diana stayed. 

“Uh, is something wrong? It’s rare to see you here,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I’ve had a question I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Diana said. 

“A question for me? Well, you can definitely ask, but I’m not sure I’ll have the answer,” Professor Ursula said. 

“There’s been magic power in excess of the Sorcerer’s Stone concentrated here as of late. I looked into it and noticed that it started happening around the same time Professor Croix first introduced the Sorcery Solution System to Luna Nova. Since I’ve heard the two of you have known each other for a while, I thought maybe you knew something about it,” Diana said. 

Professor Ursula saw Professor Croix riding on a magical unit and immediately told Diana that something came up, she went to grab her broom but noticed that she can’t use it anymore due to the Wagandea, so she grabbed her hat and stormed out of the room, this left Diana to question if Professor Ursula did, in fact, get exposed to the Wagandea pollen. Meanwhile, Akko went to meet up with Andrew. 

“I didn’t expect you of all people to meet up,” Akko said. 

“Sorry, I thought you might want this back,” Andrew said, looking at Akko’s hat on the bench. 

“Oh, that’s right, I guess I forgot it in your car,” Akko said. 

“I would’ve contacted you sooner, but Luna Nova can’t get normal emails or calls,” Andrew said. 

“Isn’t awful, using magic to keep in touch is such a pain. Now I get why you contacted Diana,” Akko said

“Yeah, it was easier,” Andrew said. 

“Would’ve been nice to have more notice, what if I’d been late?” Akko asked, picking up her hat. 

“Well, I apologize for the short notice, I’m going to parliament with my father today, so I figured this would be good timing,” Andrew said. 

“Really? That sounds so cool,” Akko said. 

“It’s not, I’ll simply be there to accompany him,” Andrew said. 

They heard all the people walking by protesting the goal. Akko asked what it was. 

“That is the reason why Parliament is meeting today,” Andrew said. 

“What do you mean?” Akko asked. 

“The debacle over the final results of a soccer game has caused tensions to rise between us and our rival country, I hear it’s only getting worse, our two countries have been at odds with each other for a long time, things had gotten better recently, but, these current events have made all that progress deteriorate, what a shame,” Andrew replied. 

“No matter what the reason is, I just don’t understand how they can stay mad at each other like that, I mean, it’s kind of scary,” Akko said. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Andrew said. 

“If only Chariot had been here at a time like this, everyone would feel better after seeing her show, it’s exciting and heartwarming, you’ll laugh and forget silly things like being mad at each other,” Akko said. 

“Seriously?” Andrew asked. 

“You betcha, her show could bring peace to the whole world,” Akko said. 

“Ah, what an idealistic theory,” Andrew said. 

“Wait, something’s off, you’re not turning you’re nose at that like you usually do,” Akko said. 

“Honestly, if all that could really happen, it’d be great, it’s better than the current situation,” Andrew said. 

Akko smiled and said that Andrew has a better opinion of magic now, but he just said that maybe he has a higher opinion of Akko then before, then told her to believe in herself and no longer live in Chariot’s shadow. Akko took that and found new determination. Andrew started bursting out in laughter and Akko did the same until she saw a flying cube, she’s seen the same cubes quite a few times before, so she grabbed her hat, apologized to Andrew and started chasing after the cubes. Lotte and Sucy were coming back from shopping when they saw Akko trying to catch a cube. Akko caught it and showed it to them. 

“Guys, look,” Akko said. 

“Weren’t those flying around the school during the strike?” Lotte asked. 

“I saw them during the Wild Hunt,” Sucy said. 

“Whenever these things appear, bad stuff usually happens,” Akko said. 

The three of them looked to the crowd to see many more of these cubes. Akko went and chased after another one and saw Professor Croix, so that’s who Akko went to see. Akko saw her standing on the ledge of a building and went up to the top of it. 

“Professor Croix, I think we have a really big problem,” Akko said. 

“What are you doing here?” Professor Croix asked. 

“Uh, well I’d tell you, but it’s actually kind of a long story,” Akko said. 

“I see, I guess it’s just a coincidence. You don’t seem to have the Claiomh Solais,” Professor Croix said. 

“What’s a Claiomh Solais? I’ve never heard of it, but anyway, back to what I was saying before, I noticed some weird cube things in town today, I’m almost positive that they’re doing something bad,” Akko said. 

Suddenly, a cube flew past her and to Professor Croix. 

“Good work,” Professor Croix said. 

“Huh?” Akko asked

“These cubes are something I’ve developed to turn people’s emotions into pure energy,” Professor Croix said. 

“So, then, you did this?” Akko asked.

“Not entirely, the anger they’re expressing is completely genuine, all I did was enhance their inner anger and absorbed it,” Professor Croix said. 

“Absorbed it? For what?” Akko asked. 

“For the Noir Fuel Spirit. People’s emotions can be converted into powerful magic energy, with these cubes I’m able to gather energy from all over the world. It’s my ultimate goal to absorb everyone’s negative emotions,” Professor Croix said. 

“But Professor, how could you?” Akko asked. 

“You’ve realized it haven’t you, magic power is decreasing all over the world, at this rate magic will disappear entirely, the only option is to create alternative magic, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could convert everyone’s emotions into a new energy source, mob psychology is the easiest to manipulate, this app gathers the emotions, and the results have been splendid. With all of this energy, my world-altering plan will surely succeed, people will respect magic’s power once again,” Professor Croix said. 

“No, this is wrong, please stop this Professor Croix,” Akko pleaded. 

“Why? Don’t you care if magic disappears from this world?” Professor Croix asked.

“It won’t, I won’t let that happen,” Akko declared. 

“How? Wishful thinking does nothing, you need to take action to change the world,” Professor Croix said. 

“Maybe, but I know this isn’t right, I believe that magic is something that should be used to make people happy,” Akko said. 

“You know, Chariot felt the same way and that’s exactly why she failed, but of course a half-brained witch who pines over dreams can’t face reality, such a waste of time,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Croix sent her cubes to attack Akko, she tried to avoid them but couldn’t so she got knocked back. The cubes congregated into a mass that looked like a spider. It started chasing after Akko, she ran and tried to avoid it as long as she could but she eventually got stopped and trapped by its webs. Luckily, Professor Ursula came out of nowhere and shot magic at it, which led the cube spider to drop Akko. She cast a spell to destroy it, which revealed her red hair. She landed on the ground again and her hair went back to blue. 

“Professor Ursula, what are you doing here?” Akko asked. 

“You still haven’t learned anything, have you? You still think you can still interfere, Chariot du Nord,” Professor Croix said looking at Professor Ursula. 

“Chariot? Are you really Shiny Chariot?” Akko asked. 

“Didn’t I tell you that you would see your beloved Chariot soon? To think she was right under your nose deceiving you this entire time,” Professor Croix said. 

“I’m sorry for hiding this from you, I was planning on telling you when the time was right,” Professor Ursula told Akko. 

“Stop this Croix, what you’re trying to do is wrong,” Professor Ursula continued, this time directed at Professor Croix. 

“And are you planning to stop me? Out of all the people to oppose me, what makes you think you have the right? Did you forget what you did ten years ago? Why don’t you tell her the truth, explain to her exactly why Chariot had to disappear and what you did to the moon,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Ursula looked down and clutched her shoulder out of fear. Professor Croix continued. 

“Dream Fuel Spirit, magic that turns people’s dreams into greater magical power. What right do you have to stop me when you used that power yourself,” 

“But that power,” Professor Ursula started. 

“You turned people’s dreams into magic?” Akko asked in disbelief. 

Professor Ursula didn’t say anything but Professor Croix understood. 

“Well, everything makes sense now, I’m finally starting to understand the reason why you were so concerned about this girl. Akko, you saw Chariot’s show, didn’t you? She used the Dream Fuel Spirit to turn the energy of all the attendees’ dreams into magic power and those whose dreams get absorbed lose their own magic power in return. I’m right aren’t I, she deserves to learn the truth,” Professor Croix said. 

“Akko, after learning you went to a Chariot show, I began to worry, I didn’t want to believe it, but the more time we spent together, the more certain I became. It’s true, I most likely absorbed your magic power, the reason you can’t fly, it’s because of me,” Professor Ursula said. 

“No way, you’re kidding, right? This has to be a joke. You’re lying, it’s a lie, it’s got to be,” Akko said. 

She remembered all the time’s Professor Ursula has helped her. 

“Liar!” Akko yelled and ran away crying. 

Now it was just the two professors. 

“With that, I doubt she’ll keep chasing after the final word seems like your journey for the seventh word has failed yet again,” Professor Croix said, then flew off on her magical unit. 

Professor Ursula was left to think on top of the building alone. 

_ “What have I done? I’ve ruined everything, I got both my soulmate and my student to hate me and now I don’t know where either of them are, this is not good,”  _

With that thought in mind, Professor Ursula returned to Luna Nova and not on a good note. 


	20. Soulmates Found in the Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday, Akko, this one is for you. 
> 
> I think you guys are going to have a ball with this one.
> 
> Note: Arthur Reinhardt and his story is taken from The Mending Hearts Series and Salander's Affliction is taken from Witches and Their Secrets

Lotte and Sucy were back in their dorms. They went to go talk to Diana surprisingly. 

“Akko’s missing?” Diana asked. 

“There was some kind of commotion in town and we got separated, that was hours ago,” Lotte said. 

“I see, and then?” Diana asked. 

“We looked all around but we couldn’t find her anywhere,” Lotte said. 

“I figured she’d headed back before we did, but obviously she’s not here,” Sucy said.

“What should we do? She could be in trouble or something,” Lotte said worriedly. 

Diana smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. 

“It’ll be fine, walk me through exactly what happened,” Diana said. 

They sat down and Diana made tea for them. Lotte explained the whole ordeal. 

“I understand, I think it would be best if we first inform Professor Ursula,” Diana said. 

“Yeah, you’re right, I’ll go meet with her,” Lotte said. 

“You should let me do it, Akko might return in the meantime, I will let you know if there are any developments,” Diana said before getting up. 

Lotte thanked her and she went to see Professor Ursula. Professor Ursula was in her room thinking back to her childhood, about how all she wanted was to make people happy with her magic, even though, her abilities weren’t the best, but when she met Croix, her soulmate, everything changed, she taught her to believe in herself, she taught her the meaning of love and also helped her with her magic. When the rod showed up, however, their relationship changed, Croix became bitter and jealous that she was the one that received the rod and not her. Professor Ursula wondered if she could go back to those times when things were more simple. She came back to reality with someone knocking on her door, it was Diana. Professor Ursula opened the door. 

“How can I help you?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“It seems that no one has seen Akko since she went into town. Do you know anything? You were with her earlier weren’t you?” Diana asked. 

“I’m so sorry,” Professor Ursula apologized. 

“Why are you apologizing? Earlier we never quite finished our talk, can we do that now?” Diana asked. 

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid I’m quite busy at the moment,” Professor Ursula replied. 

“Then, I just ask you directly, I know there’s no record of a student here named Ursula Callistis, your real name is Chariot du Nord, you’re Shiny Chariot aren’t you?” Diana asked. 

“I am, that is correct,” Professor Ursula replied. 

“And you were with her earlier? Please tell me what happened,” Diana said. 

“All right,” Professor Ursula said and then let her in. 

She explained everything that happened earlier. 

“And this affected the people who saw your show,” Diana said. 

“I really upset Akko when I told her everything,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Why didn’t you go and chase after her then? You came back by yourself when Akko’s out there all alone somewhere,” Diana said, quite concerned. 

_ “You really care about your soulmate, too, as to be expected,”  _ Professor Ursula thought. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t be of any help to her, now,” Professor Ursula said. 

Diana stood up from her chair. 

“What are you saying? I’m sure that she needs you now more than ever,” Diana said. 

“I can’t, I have other matters to take care of first,” Professor Ursula said. 

“You want me to believe that something could possibly be more important than Akko right now?” Diana asked, getting angry. 

She calmed herself and said that she won’t hound Professor Ursula any longer, that she and the others will find Akko, and that she’s disappointed in her, then she left the room. 

_ “I’m sure you’ll be able to take good care of her,”  _ Professor Ursula thought. 

Diana walked back to the dorms to inform Lotte and Sucy and when she opened the door she was surprised to see the green team as well. 

“So I heard Akko hasn’t come back yet,” Amanda said. 

“Yes, it’s possible she could still be in town,” Diana said. 

“Did you find anything out?” Lotte asked. 

Diana told them about how Akko lost her magic because of Chariot. 

“No way!” Lotte exclaimed. 

“Is that really true? The reason Akko can’t fly is Chariot’s fault?” Amanda asked. 

“The way Akko loves Chariot she must’ve taken that really hard,” Sucy said. 

“You gotta wonder if she’s even gonna come back,” Amanda said. 

“Don’t even say that! There’s no way she’d leave things like this,” Lotte said. 

“I’m sure you’re right, sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Amanda said. 

“There’s something I don’t get, how does Ursula know about all this?” Sucy asked.

“We can talk about that later, finding Akko is what’s important now,” Diana said. 

“Well, I’m coming with you,” Amanda said. 

“I’ll go as well,” Lotte said. 

“I can try heading out to the station to look for her there,” Sucy said. 

“That’s a good idea, then I’ll try searching for her along the leyline,” Diana said. 

So they went out to try and find Akko, but before they left, Diana took her Chariot card and necklaces with her. Diana was flying along the side of the leyline when she saw Akko sitting on a bench. It was cold and snowing. Diana took her to  _ Last Wednesday Society _ , that magic item shop that also serves tea. 

“Have you warmed up a bit? It’s freezing out, I can’t believe you were actually sitting out there this entire time,” Diana said. 

Akko just looked down and didn’t say anything so Diana continued. 

“I talked to Professor Ursula, she told me what happened between you and Chariot,” 

She just looked at the brunette in silence before gaining the courage to show her her Chariot card and her necklaces. 

“There is something I want to show you,” Diana said and then slid the Chariot card out on the table. 

“A premium Chariot card?” Akko asked. 

“Wait, another thing as well,” Diana said, also showing her necklace that was glowing very bright and her parents’ linked one that wasn’t glowing at all. 

“Your necklace as well?” Akko asked. 

She looked at it and realized that it looked like an exact replica of hers, just the other side. Of course, how could she have not caught on sooner?

“Wait, is that one your parents’ one?” Akko asked, pointing at the two intertwined rings necklace. 

“Yeah, do you remember when we first met and I asked you why you believe in soulmates?” Diana asked. 

“Of course, what about it?” Akko asked. 

“Well, this is the reason I don’t believe. This belief is what got my parents killed. My mother Bernadette was diagnosed with a rare, then unknown disease, now called Salander’s Affliction and my dad Arthur Reinhardt, who I didn’t know very well since he didn’t show up often, went to the Regulus Caverns to try and find the Elixir of Life to save her, but he never came back and my mother died less than a year later,” Diana told. 

Somewhere along the line, she started crying, it was hard for her to recall that story especially since, well, her parents died. She rarely ever cried and now she was crying in front of the one person she thought she would never break down in front of. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know, hey it’s okay,” Akko said, going to comfort her. 

“I apologize, I came here to cheer you up and now here I am, crying in front of you,” Diana said in between sobs. 

“Hey, it’s okay, you lost your parents, it’s okay to cry, I don’t think I’d be able to handle it as well as you, if I was in your shoes,” Akko said, rubbing her hand along Diana’s arm. 

Diana rubbed her eyes and looked to see Akko smiling at her. She thought she was the most beautiful person ever, with her bright crimson eyes, cute brunette hair in a ponytail, and especially that wide happy smile. She wondered how it was possible for her to stay so positive and optimistic all the time. 

“Thank you, Akko,” Diana said. 

“No problem, I’m happy to help,” Akko said. 

She looked down at how bright her necklace was glowing and back to the table to see how bright Diana’s was glowing. She went to sit back down and took her necklace off. She put it next to Diana’s and it was a perfect match, making a replica of the actual Chariot card she showed her. Suddenly, the room flashed white and their necklaces stopped glowing. 

“What just happened?” Akko asked. 

“I don’t know, but I read that if you link your necklaces together, they stop glowing because you know you’re with them, but if the two of them are separated for a long period of time, it can start to glow again, telling you that they are near,” Diana said. 

“So are we soulmates?” Akko asked. 

“As much as I can see. You must have a really strong connection, I’ve never seen a flash like that before,” The shopkeeper chimed. 

“What do you mean?” Akko asked. 

“I think he means that the bigger the flash is when you link them for the first time, the stronger your connection with your partner is,” Diana explained. 

“Exactly,” the shopkeeper confirmed. 

Akko was confused, excited, nervous, and fearful at the same time. What does this mean? She and Diana are soulmates? Would she accept her? This is all happening too fast. 

“Hey, Akko, are you okay?” Diana asked. 

“Yeah, I’m just confused,” Akko said. 

“The feeling is mutual,” Diana said. 

“Why did you show me this?” Akko asked, pointing to the Chariot card. 

“I wanted to give it to you. You know I was pretty fond of Chariot growing up as well,” Diana said. 

“Really? You were a fan?” Akko asked. 

“More than you could know, I remember early on, she was already drawing some controversy, so I had to collect these in secret as a result, being able to go see her show seemed like an impossibility, even so, that didn’t stop me from dreaming about it. Then, one day my mother arranged a trip overseas and fulfilled my dream at last,” Diana said. 

“Huh? You traveled just to see her show?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, to your country. In fact, I used to wear my necklace back then and I distinctly remember it glowing quite bright that day,” Diana said. 

“We saw the same show? Yeah, now that I think about it, mine was glowing bright that day too, brighter than it had ever glowed before, well, until I moved to Luna Nova that is. Why did you stop wearing it?” Akko asked. 

“I already told you, I had to put away that childish ideal, especially since my necklace was basically half of that card. To be honest, I think part of the reason I wanted to leave Luna Nova was to get away from you. The fact that you voice your love for Chariot and wear your necklace like it’s nothing, but also my feelings, I was so confused by how you made me feel, my heart races whenever I’m near you, I’ve never felt this way with anyone else. I don’t know what to do,” Diana admitted. 

“Me neither, but that doesn’t matter, the answer to your question from back then is simply because I want to believe in the fact that you have your fated other half, no matter who they are. It gave me hope to know that there was someone out there waiting for me and guess what, I found them,” Akko said, putting a hand over Diana’s. 

“I never thought of it in that way,” Diana said, looking at Akko’s hand over hers and blushed. 

“Are you blushing?” Akko teased. 

“No! I’m not!” Diana defended. 

Akko just laughed and soon Diana let go and also laughed. 

“You know, I really meant what I said at the mansion,” Diana said. 

Akko remembered back to that day, where Diana told her aunt that she would rather be with her instead of Andrew. It was Akko’s turn to blush now. 

“So now’s who’s blushing?” Diana teased back. 

“No! That’s crazy!” Akko defended this time. 

“I’m serious though, you’re a really nice person who cares about everyone and I really do mean it when I say your smile lights up a room,” Diana said. 

“If that’s true, then, I would say yours lights up the whole house,” Akko said. 

She just stared at her for a moment. She thought she was the most beautiful person ever with her icy light blue eyes, platinum blonde and tea green hair, and especially, her smile. She rarely showed emotion, but that smile is one thing Akko would like to see more of. 

“Do you like what you see?” Diana asked cheekily. 

“Definitely, you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” Akko said. 

“What?” Diana asked, now embarrassed and blushing even deeper. 

“You are,” Akko said. 

“Well, you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, too,” Diana said. 

“Thank you,” Akko said, trying to hide another blush. 

“I want you to put my necklace on me,” Diana said. 

“Are you sure? Didn’t you say you don’t believe?” Akko asked. 

“I did say that, but I guess I had a change of heart,” Diana said. 

“Okay, then, put mine back on me too,” Akko said. 

“Sure,” Diana said. 

They both got up and went to put each other’s necklaces on. Akko went on her tippy toes to try and latch on Diana’s necklace. Diana moved her hair out of the way and just as Akko was about to latch it, the green team and Sucy and Lotte walked in. 

“Hey, we saw a flash, is everything all right?” Amanda asked, unknowingly. 

She then looked down to see the both of them and realized what was going on. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine, but you did kind of interrupt the moment,” Akko said, latching Diana’s necklace and then turning to face the others. 

“Sorry,” Amanda apologized. 

Diana leaned down slightly to put Akko’s necklace back on and then looked back up to see the others. 

“It’s fine,” Diana said. 

“You’re not leaving, right, Akko?” Lotte asked. 

“What the heck? No! Of course not,” Akko replied. 

“Good,” Lotte said. 

Sucy poked her from behind with the Shiny Rod and then gave it to her. 

“Thank you, guys,” Akko said. 

The shopkeeper gave them all tea and they just talked amongst each other. Meanwhile, Professor Ursula walked into Professor Croix’s lab and saw the Noir Fuel Spirit in person.

“Just in time, I thought you might enjoy witnessing my latest work,” Professor Croix said. 

“This is…” Professor Ursula trailed off. 

“That’s right, Noir Fuel Spirit, this is all the energy I collected,” Professor Croix said, showing her a tablet. 

‘I have you to thank in part, I was able to perfect this device using the data collected from the Dream Fuel Spirit. Your assistance was very much appreciated, very soon my plan will be ready to proceed to its ultimate stage,” Professor Croix said. 

“I will stop you,” Professor Ursula said. 

So she stood, preparing to fight. 


	21. Reconciliation

Professor Croix surrounded Professor Ursula with cubes but she dispelled them using a simple spell and kept her emotions in check. 

“Trying to take my magic is a waste of time, if I keep control of my emotions then you can’t use the Fuel Spirit to absorb them,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Amazing, your talent for magic really is the real deal,” Professor Croix said. 

“I had always been inspired by your magic but now you don’t even believe in that,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I do believe, but I will continue to enhance it with the power of science, I believe this is the future,” Professor Croix said. 

“Do you really think you can continue with your plan?” Professor Ursula asked, pulling out her wand and turning it into a lightsaber. 

“It’s clear we’ll never agree so let’s settle this right now,” Professor Croix said, calling her magical units. 

They started going after Professor Ursula but she knocked them down with her saber. Professor Croix called more cubes to create a wall so she could fly up, Professor Ursula sliced through the wall but now she was left on the platform. 

“I’m guessing you were exposed to the Wagandea pollen, if you can’t fly you can’t win,” Professor Croix said. 

She lifted the platform and Professor Ursula was knocked back to the wall, luckily, she found her footing and used the wall to propel herself to where Professor Croix was standing on her unit. She created copies of herself, while the real her came down from above, striking Professor Croix with her saber, but before it could reach her, Professor Croix lifted her tablet above her head, creating a magic barrier which trapped Professor Ursula, but before she could do anything else, Professor Finnelan came and used a spell which knocked the device out of her hands. Headmistress Holbrooke was also there, they were both on their brooms. 

“Professor Croix, what on earth is going on here?” Professor Finnelan asked. 

“I hope there’s a good explanation for this,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

Suddenly, the Noir Rod started bursting out a stream of magic. 

“What is this enormous energy?” Professor Croix asked. 

The riots happening outside caused a tremendous burst of energy and it was too much for all the units to handle, so they overpowered and exploded, exposing all the cubes that were inside. The red and green teams along with Diana were outside looking up to see the cubes flying past. 

“What is that?” Akko asked. 

“It looks like it’s heading for the leyline,” Amanda said. 

“How odd. Let’s return to Luna Nova,” Diana said. 

Akko turned to her and nodded in affirmation. Meanwhile, at Luna Nova, the magic from the Noir Rod is getting stronger and way more powerful. Professor Finnelan and Headmistress Holbrooke looked at the device in surprise at how much energy it’s gathering.

“Who knew I could gather this much energy? Human stupidity is astounding isn’t it, no need to start the Noir Rod up myself, it’s already started, ” Professor Croix said. 

“No, that can’t be,” Professor Ursula said from in her cage in disbelief. 

The magic from the rod started streaming out of the building. Professor Ursula looked in surprise. Professor Croix’s router lit up, Professor Finnelan tried to use a spell but couldn’t and she and Headmistress Holbrooke fell to the ground, not being able to use magic. Professor Croix released Professor Ursula and she also fell. The Sorcerer’s Stone also stopped working and fell off its place in the New Moon Tower, no one could use magic. The seven girls were returning to Luna Nova but the leyline started disappearing. 

“What is that?” Akko asked, looking at the black hole behind her. 

“The leyline is…” Lotte trailed off. 

“Vanishing,” Amanda finished. 

“It can’t be,” Diana said. 

The leyline completely disappeared and they all started falling. Back at Luna Nova, Professor Croix was turning the Noir Rod into a ship which she used to transport herself to the Arcturus Forest. Professor Ursula jumped and touched it just as it teleported away, so now they were both heading for the Grand Triskelion. 

“After all this time, I’m here,” Professor Croix said. 

“The seal of the Nine Old Witches,” Professor Ursula said. 

Professor Croix looked behind to see her. 

“It was a mistake for you to follow me here, but yes this is where the Grand Triskelion is sealed, as you know by now, I’m going to release it. Feel free to sit back and watch as I accomplish something that you were never able to, ” Professor Croix said. 

The seven girls landed at the Forest of Arcturus. Akko looked around and realized that that’s where they were. 

“Huh? Wait a sec, this is The Forest of Arcturus,” Akko said. 

“Seriously?” Diana asked. 

“It looks way more like a haunted house than a forest, come on, let’s go,” Amanda said. 

She cast  **Tia Freyre** but it didn’t work. Diana looked at her wand’s power reserve and noticed that there wasn’t any. 

“It seems that there isn’t any magic power in the area,” Diana said. 

“The leyline and now this? Something weird’s going on,” Lotte said. 

“Over there!” Akko exclaimed pointing at three beams of light. 

“What’s that?” Sucy asked. 

“I’m willing to bet it’s connected to all of this,” Diana said. 

“Let’s go,” Akko said from in front of them. 

Professor Croix and Professor Ursula were now in front of the Grand Triskelion. 

“It’s time, I’m removing the seal,” Professor Croix said. 

She pressed a button on her phone that allowed the ship to turn into a spider, which in the process trapped Professor Ursula again as they touched down on the ground. Professor Croix was next to it riding on a unit as it started blasting magic like a drill to release the Grand Triskelion. Once it was released, Professor Croix stepped inside and was faced with a stick, she took it but all it did was spray bubbles. The riots in the town were just getting worse, to the point where the guard brought out a cannon. Andrew, his dad, and one of their colleagues were talking about it and were trying to come up with a situation to calm it down. Back at the Grand Triskelion, what Professor Croix got was nothing like she suspected. 

“Come on world, change already,” Professor Croix pleaded, popping the bubbles out of her way. 

The stick made a spotlight and a bunch of stars appear. 

“No! All of this is wrong, this can’t be it, this is not the world-altering magic I’ve been after,” Professor Croix said. 

She waved the stick again and streamers appeared. 

“It’s all wrong!” Professor Croix exclaimed in anger and disappointment. 

She fell to her knees and started to break. 

“This stupid thing can’t be the Grand Triskelion, there’s no way,” Professor Croix whispered. 

The place returned to normal, where there was a pattern of three witches holding hands and a swirl around the hands. 

“Oh, Croix,” Professor Ursula said, saddened, from her place on the spider. 

Suddenly, Professor Woodward appeared in front of them. 

“Professor Woodward,” Professor Ursula greeted. 

“Where’s the Grand Triskelion? Tell me now!” Professor Croix yelled out from the ground. 

“The Grand Triskelion is already in your possession,” Professor Woodward said. 

“You’re lying!” Professor Croix cried out. 

“I speak the truth,” Professor Woodward said. 

“Then why isn’t anything happening? What part of this is world-altering magic? Why, why do you always push me aside? Why won’t you give  _ me  _ guidance? If you’re never going to choose me, just leave me alone!” Professor Croix cried out in tears. 

Professor Croix threw the stick at Professor Woodward and then she vanished. The spider started to trap Professor Ursula further. 

“Croix!” Professor Ursula called out. 

Professor Croix looked at with extreme worry. The device she was holding said, “Emotional pattern red.” It kept repeating the word red over and over until it became garbled speech. The spider grew a mind of its own and took Professor Ursula along with it. 

“Stop! I said stop!” Professor Croix cried out at the spider which turned into its own sentient being. 

“Croix! You have to turn it off!” Professor Ursula exclaimed from where she was. 

She started tapping on her phone to try and turn it off but nothing seemed to work. 

“I can’t! It won’t stop,” Professor Croix said. 

The thing started gathering more magic energy, it was going out of control. Professor Croix attached magic units to it and commanded them to destroy themselves, all it did was release the cubes from the seemingly technological rod. It backfired, the rod became like a dragon type being, which started attacking Professor Croix. Luckily, Professor Ursula came to help her and the being released her from its hold. 

“Croix!” Professor Ursula exclaimed. 

“Why are you…” Professor Croix started. 

Professor Ursula blocked her from the monster and carried her, jumping away from it. 

“Chariot, why? I’m the one it’s after, leave me, run,” Professor Croix said. 

“You’re my soulmate, I won’t abandon you,” Professor Ursula said. 

The dragon came back for them again and knocked Professor Croix away. Professor Ursula attacked it from the side declaring, 

“I won’t let you take her!”

“Chariot, please just run, you’ve already done enough,” Professor Croix said. 

“It’s not enough! I’m the one who stole your dream Croix, then I stole Akko’s magic, so I won’t let anything else be stolen,” Professor Ursula said, attacking the dragon. 

She couldn’t stop it, and she got caught up in its arms. 

“Chariot!” Professor Croix called, as it was about to eat her. 

Luckily, the seven girls showed up behind her. 

**“Murowa,”** Diana and Akko cast together. 

It hit the arm that was holding Professor Ursula and the dragon released her. 

“Professor!” Akko exclaimed. 

“Akko,” Professor Ursula said. 

She and Diana were still holding the Shiny Rod in the same spell position as the other girls around them started speaking. 

“What a mess,” Amanda said. 

“Well, this certainly doesn’t look very good,” Sucy said. 

“What do we do? This seems really dangerous,” Lotte said. 

Professor Croix looked up at the dragon then back down at her phone. 

“I see. The energy link will not hold much longer. It’s time,” Professor Croix said. 

She pressed some buttons on her phone, but it didn’t work as the dragon went after her, Professor Ursula knocked her out of the way, so the dragon took her instead. Akko heard her say, “recite the words” just before she was taken. Akko remembered when she unlocked the first word. The other girls backed up as the Shiny Rod started to glow. 

“ **Note”**

**“Orfei”**

**“Aude”**

**“Fraetor”**

**“Shiny Arc,”** Akko cast. 

She pulled back the arrow and it shot right into the dragon’s eye, destroying the dragon and creating a huge magic blast. This allowed for the magic of the Sorcerer’s Stone to be returned and for Professor Ursula to be released. Akko walked up to her and kneeled down in front of her. 

“Akko,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Chariot, it’s really you, here you go,” Akko said, handing her the Shiny Rod. 

“But this, this rod isn’t mine,” Professor Ursula said. 

“I’ve made up my mind, to give this to you once I found you, please accept it,” Akko said, putting the Shiny Rod in her hands. 

“I saw one of your shows when I was a kid, it was so beautiful and cool, it felt just like a dream, seeing it really moved me. It was then, that I decided to become a witch. I thought that if I became one I would be able to see Chariot again, doing so was my biggest dream and now that I’ve finally met you, my dream, it came true,” Akko continued. 

“Akko,” Professor Ursula started. 

“But you know, this is all thanks to everyone, I’m so glad that I’m friends with them, all of them. I cause lots of trouble, but they always help me, that’s why I’m here, without them around, I would’ve never made it this far, I’m so grateful for them and well, you too,” Akko said, looking at her teammates, her friends from the green team, her soulmate, and then back at Professor Ursula. 

The Shiny Rod started to glow but Akko didn’t notice at first and continued. 

“You know, it’s still strange to think you’re actually Chariot because, to me, you’ve always been my teacher. That’s why I was hoping you could keep being my professor instead,” 

“Akko, what I did to your magic was..” Professor Ursula was about to say but got cut off. 

“Professor! I get it now, I know I’ll never be Chariot. I wanted to be like her, so I could gracefully soar the sky and use beautiful transformation magic, but Chariot is Chariot and I’m just me. All I can do is be myself, even if being myself means I can’t fly and I always mess everything up. Professor, just wait, I will work hard, and then, I’ll be a witch who makes everyone smile, because magic is the most wonderful thing in the whole world to me. I want to learn more, so keep teaching me magic, please,” Akko said, flashing a wide grin. 

“You still want me as your teacher?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“You’re the best one there is,” Akko said, hugging her. 

The rod started glowing brighter, the crystal for the last word. Diana commented on it and Professor Ursula noticed it, she extended it in front of Akko and told her to say the last word. Akko took the rod and said the words. 

“Everyone together, if we all chase our dreams, we can change the world.  **Phasansheer Shearylla** ,” Akko cast extending the rod to the air. 

A stick appeared in front of her. 

“That’s it, huh,” Amanda said. 

“Wow, it’s really just a twig,” Sucy said. 

This is the world-altering magic? Diana!” Akko said, looking to her for an answer. 

“Well, I, I actually don’t know that much about it,” Diana replied. 

“Why don’t you just use it and find out?” Lotte asked. 

“Okay,” Akko said. 

She put the stick and the rod together and cast  **Phasansheer Shearylla** again. It turned the whole forest green and vibrant again and made a rainbow. It was truly a sight to behold. 

“So then, this is world-altering magic,” Professor Croix said. 

Everybody went up to hug Akko, but she fell before her soulmate could get there. So while the rest of them basically dogpiled her, Diana stood there smiling endearingly. 

“Hey, you can get off of me now,” Akko said, struggling. 

“Oh, right,” Lotte said. 

They all got off of her and she stood up again. She went to hug her soulmate. She wrapped her arms around her waist and brought her body closer to hers. 

“Akko, what is this for?” Diana asked, responding to the hug. 

“To thank you,” Akko said. 

“For what? I didn’t do anything, that was all you,” Diana said. 

“No, not for that, I just want to say thank you for all you’ve done for me,” Akko said. 

“I should be the one thanking you,” Diana said. 

“There’s no need,” Akko said. 

She put her head on Diana’s shoulder, still not breaking the hug. 

“You sure like putting your head on my shoulder, don’t you?” Diana asked. 

“That has only happened once before, but, yes, it’s comfortable,” Akko breathed on her neck. 

Diana felt her breath hitch for a moment before relaxing again. 

“Then I should let you do it more often,” Diana said, now resting her own head on Akko’s shoulder. 

Akko pulled away and Diana felt the movement so she also pulled away, they were now very close, looking at each other. All it took was one of them moving their face closer to close the distance. Akko started to close the distance, but then a sudden alarm blaring stopped her from doing so. 

_ “Damn it! I was this close,”  _ Akko thought. 

She let go of Diana’s waist and backed away. 

_ “I don’t know whether or not I should feel sad or happy about that, I mean we were in front of others, but it’s not like they would care either way,”  _ Diana thought. 

“What is that blaring?” Lotte asked. 

“I’m not sure,” Akko said. 

Little did they know, there was still another threat they had to take care of, a missile, out to destroy the world. 


	22. The Noir Missile Shootdown

The alarm was being heard by everyone, including the Hanbridges and their colleagues. They watched a broadcast on their phones showing a missile being shot up into space. Professor Ursula saw Professor Croix’s tablet showing the same broadcast. 

“It can’t be,” Professor Ursula said. 

“What is it?” Akko asked. 

“It looks like a missile,” Professor Ursula said. 

“No way!” Akko exclaimed. 

Professor Croix walked up to Professor Ursula holding the tablet. 

“Seriously, my magic beast possessed that thing?” Professor Croix asked. 

“You mean those little red squares, right?” Akko asked. 

“Yes, the ones that I created to collect the Noir Fuel Spirit,” Professor Croix responded. 

She tapped on the screen to try and stop it but wasn’t allowed to.

“This isn’t good, I can’t access it,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Ursula cast a spell that showed a bigger version of the broadcast. 

“Is this thing for real?” Amanda asked. 

“Why is this happening?” Lotte asked. 

“The hatred in people’s hearts was more than I was expecting. Hatred breeds more hatred and will just continue to grow,” Professor Croix said. 

“So then, why was it created?” Diana asked. 

“Its purpose is to spread negativity all across the world and it will continue this until it detonates,” Professor Croix said. 

“That’s absurd, isn’t there any way to disable it?’ Professor Ursula asked. 

“Its power is too out of control and now my system can’t restrain it, trying to stop it is futile, because it’s gained this much power, there’s nothing we can do,” Professor Croix said. 

Everybody looked down in defeat, but then Akko said, 

“We can stop it! We just have to work together,” 

“Huh? You do realize what we’re up against, don’t you? I mean we’re talking about a missile here,” Amanda said. 

“It doesn’t look like it’d be tasty at all,” Jasminka said. 

“I don’t think we would be able to catch up to it, even on brooms, Lotte said. 

“That doesn’t mean we still can’t try, look around, there’s nine of us total, and with magic on our side I know we’ll think of something,” Akko said. 

“She’s right,” Diana said. 

They all turned to look at her. 

“If it’s a magic beast we’re facing off against, magic might be the best way to counter it, I think it’s worth a try anyway,” Diana continued. 

“You’re all so brave,” Professor Ursula commented. 

“It’s pointless, there’s no way for us to catch up to a missile, and besides there’s not even enough magic left to do so. The SSS isn’t functioning anymore either, you can extract what magic remains and it still won’t be enough,” Professor Croix said. 

“I think we should still try! Let’s go as far as we possibly can, we’ve got this, we’re the New Nine Witches,” Akko declared. 

“Geez, okay fine, you might hurt yourself if you go alone, I guess we should help out,” Amanda said. 

“I shall go as well, if Akko and I use the Shiny Balai we’ll be sure to catch up,” Diana said. 

“All right, let’s do this, if we connect our brooms, we can take you a good distance, no problem, am I right Constanze?” Amanda asked her. 

Constanze flashed a thumbs up along with her Stanbot. 

“Everyone,” Akko said in appreciation. 

“That’s reckless, you don’t know what’ll happen,” Professor Croix said. 

Professor Ursula put a hand on her shoulder. 

“Listen, let’s have faith in them Croix. We’re going to help too,” Professor Ursula said. 

So they attached all their brooms together with the help of some machinery. 

“It’s finished,” Professor Croix said. 

Akko nodded in confirmation and lifted the rod up to the sky. 

“ **Sybilladura Lelladybura,”** she cast. 

The Shiny Rod turned into the broom and attached itself to the already connected ones. Professor Ursula and Professor Croix cast a spell that changed their uniforms into ones from the Nine Olde Witches time. They mounted the broom, in front was Diana followed by Akko, Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Constanze, and Jasminka at the back. Akko asked if they were ready and they all nodded in confirmation and cast **Tia Freyre** in unison and the broom blasted off into space like a rocket, this left Professor Ursula and Professor Croix on the ground. 

“I can’t believe we’re letting them do this, I’m still not confident they’ll succeed,” Professor Croix said. 

“Have faith Croix, Akko will make it happen,” Professor Ursula said. 

“Sounds like we’ll need a miracle,’ Professor Croix said. 

“She was never one to believe in miracles because Akko believes in herself,” Professor Ursula said. 

They were flying up into space and the velocity was dragging them down, so Lotte cast a spell which called the wind spirit to help them, it allowed them to fly more smoothly. The weight was getting too much to bear, so Jasminka pushed Constanze forward and removed her broom from the giant one. They were going further up and then Constanze did the same thing for Amanda and removed her broom. Then, Amanda did the same for Sucy, pushing her forward and removing her broom from the big one. This left the red team and Diana on the broom. Professor Croix looked at her phone, broadcasting them flying. Somehow they were also being broadcasted along with the missile, so everyone saw them as well. Soon after, Lotte and Sucy also removed themselves from the bigger broom, this left Akko and Diana alone to catch the missile, but just as they reached it their altitude dropped a little, their magic was running out. The government also sent missiles to try and shoot down the big one, but the missile somehow invaded all of them. Everyone watching from below decided to put all their good faith in the both of them and they felt it. 

“There’s a surge of magic,” Diana said. 

“Huh? Where’s it from?” Akko asked. 

“I’m not sure, but it means we can keep flying,” Diana said. 

Professor Ursula and Professor Croix watched as lines of magic followed behind the both of them. 

“How are they still flying? Magic should’ve run out by now,” Professor Croix said. 

She observed the lines behind the two of them. 

“Fuel Spirit maybe? That’s not it, they’re gaining speed, that light is providing them with magic,” Professor Croix said, looking at her phone. 

“The lights keep appearing,” Professor Ursula said. 

“People’s thoughts are being turned into magic without any sort of system, I can’t believe it,” Professor Croix said. 

“But those two still believe, despite everything, they still believe their actions can change people’s hearts, very befitting of the two soulmates,” Professor Ursula said. 

Professor Croix simply nodded and pressed a few buttons on her phone to allow the broadcast of the girls flying to be seen all over the world. 

“I’m broadcasting this video of the girls to the world and in utilizing this method, people can see witches in a new light. Reach out to the world, ask for their support,” Professor Croix said, extending her wand out to Professor Ursula. 

She grabbed it and used it as a microphone, the frequency allowed Professor Ursula to talk to the people through the broadcast, telling them to believe in the two girls because “A believing heart is our magic.” The Hanbridges and his colleagues couldn’t believe this, but Andrew did and so did the Prime Minister, he came and told the people to put their faith in the witches, so that’s exactly what they did. The girls were getting closer to the missile thanks to the boost of magic. 

“Oh wow, where did all this magic energy even come from? Do you think it’s enough to catch up?” Akko asked.

They were right in front of the missile now. 

“It’s more than enough,” Diana said. 

“Victory!” Akko exclaimed. 

“Not yet, we still have to stop this thing,” Diana said. 

The missile started shooting bullets at them, but luckily they avoided them. Akko looked at the rod and noticed it was a max power. 

“It looks like the rod is at max power, do you think we can change the missile into something less threatening?” Akko asked. 

“It's worth a shot,” Diana said. 

She grabbed the broom and went to the back of it, pushing Akko forward, so now they switched positions. 

“Your turn now, Akko,” Diana said. 

Akko was now standing in the front of the broom. The power from it created another wand, which Akko used to cast **Metamorphie Facessie** , it turned the threatening magic bullets into harmless stuffed animals, but more kept coming, luckily Akko changed them all. Then, the missile started coming after them. They were really close to it, Akko turned into different animals to try and avoid its shooting, she ran along the missile and then jumped back on the back of the broom. She shot magic at it in hopes of breaking it, but that just made it worse and Akko got knocked off the broom and started falling. Diana started chasing after her to catch her. 

“Akko!” She yelled out. 

It was in vain, as she tried to avoid the missile and also got knocked off the broom. Luckily, she felt a hand grab her wrist and looked up to see Akko on the legendary broom. 

“Akko!” Diana exclaimed. 

“Nice catch, am I right,” Akko said. 

“Isn’t this the legendary broom?” Diana asked. 

“Didn’t expect that now, did you, how’s that for a dramatic reunion?” Akko asked the broom. 

It just looked at her. The Shiny Rod fell and Akko caught it. With Diana now sitting behind her on the broom, they flew away. The missile followed them, but they avoided it, getting above it. Everybody was feeding them magic, enough to create the Yggdrasil again. 

“Look at that,” Professor Croix said. 

“Yggdrasil,” Professor Ursula said simply. 

The two girls were basically glowing. Akko was holding the Shiny Rod and started saying, 

“Please Grand Triskelion, if you can truly change the world, then, I wish to live in a world where we can all laugh as one because believing in yourself is everyone’s magic,” 

She looked at her soulmate and she smiled at her. Akko chuckled in endearment. Diana put a hand over hers and they lifted up the Shiny Rod together. 

**“Note,”**

**“Orfei,”**

**“Aude,”**

**“Fraetor,”**

**“Shiny Arc,”** the two of them cast in unison. 

The Rod turned into a giant bow and arrow and they both pulled back and shot the missile, it went through it and destroyed it. This was thanks to all the magic they received, but a star shower was created and went across the world. It was quite a sight. This whole ordeal even made Mr. Hanbridge change his ideal about witches. Professor Ursula and Professor Croix watched the display in awe. 

“Believe in the magic inside yourself huh? I never realized that was the source of it all, all of this made me see that magic is more complex than I was led to believe,” Professor Croix said. 

“It’s much bigger than the two of us and I bet it will only continue to grow,” Professor Ursula said. 

Akko and Diana looked at the pattern they created from above, still standing on their broom in space. Akko noticed the rod starting to dissipate. 

“The rod,” Diana said. 

Akko extended it up and it went back to the stars. 

“Shiny Rod, thanks so much,” Akko said. 

The two of them looked at the Big Dipper, the Shiny Rod made those stars. Akko intertwined her fingers with Diana’s and leaned her head on her shoulder again. 

“You said I should do this more often, right?” Akko asked. 

“I believe I said, ‘I should let you do it more often then,’ but the sentiment is still the same,” Diana said. 

“Thank you,” Akko said. 

“Why do you keep thanking me for? I really didn’t do anything to constitute thanks,” Diana said. 

“I just feel like that’s what I should say, I was such a jerk to you in the beginning but you still helped me, I don’t know what I did to deserve the kindness you’ve given me,” Akko said. 

“You convinced me to come back to Luna Nova, you saved me from Daryl’s snake, you comforted me after I told you about my parents, you taught me that soulmates are not actually a waste of time, should I go on?” Diana asked. 

“But you came back for me after I saved you, you helped me find the fifth word, you saved me when I fell off the Shooting Star and still went on to win that race, you taught me the importance of being myself, that I shouldn’t strive to be like someone else. You know why I thought of you as my rival?” Akko asked. 

“No, why?” Diana asked. 

“Because you were at the top, standing on this unattainable pedestal, with your last name, perfect grades, beautiful magic abilities. How I wished to be in that position, but then, I learned that you worked just as hard to get to that position, you might not control your family name, but you proved that you are worthy of that. Diana Cavendish, you deserve all the thanks in the world and more, so stop being so humble and modest, even though that's one of the things I love about you, and accept it,” Akko said. 

“You think my magic is beautiful?” Diana asked. 

Akko lifted her head and looked at her. 

“As beautiful as you are,” Akko said, grabbing Diana’s hands. 

Diana felt her cheeks heat up. 

“You know why I _never_ thought of you as my rival?” Diana asked. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Akko said. 

“Well, at first, I thought you were nothing more than a bumbling idiot who couldn’t use magic for the life of her, who proclaimed that she wanted to be like Shiny Chariot but had no ability to back it up, but then when I saw you with the Shiny Rod and the Pappiliodya, I realized you have more potential than I originally thought, and then you proved me wrong even further at the Samhain Festival, then again at my estate. Atsuko Kagari, you’re just full of surprises and you don’t deserve anyone calling you an idiot with no ability, because I’m pretty sure you just proved the whole world wrong. You’re beautiful too, you might not be at my level of magic ability, but your metamorphosis magic is like none other,” Diana said. 

“Wow, _the_ Diana Cavendish is saying _my_ metamorphosis magic is like none other, I must be dreaming,” Akko chuckled. 

“I’m serious, I don’t think I could ever do metamorphosis magic to the level that you did earlier,” Diana said. 

Akko didn’t say anything but she moved closer and finally closed the distance between them, she pressed her lips against hers and she kissed her back, it was only for a few seconds but it felt like forever, not like either of them minded that though. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” Akko apologized. 

Diana put a finger to Akko’s lips. 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to apologize, I’m your soulmate, you don’t have to apologize for wanting to kiss me,” Diana said. 

“Is that permission to do it again?” Akko asked. 

“As much as you would like,” Diana said. 

So Akko took that and kissed her again. 

* * *

Professor Croix is now just Croix, she’s no longer a teacher, she confessed to her crimes and is now being taken into custody under probation by the Ministry of Magic, they are standing by the leyline. 

“Take care of yourself Croix,” Professor Ursula said, now embracing her red hair. 

“Thank you and you too and Headmistress thank you as well,” Croix said. 

“Don’t forget, you’re welcome back here anytime Croix,” Headmistress Holbrooke said. 

“That’s very kind of you, for now, I don’t know when I’ll return, there are a lot of things I must take care of,” Croix said. 

“You still have work to do?” Headmistress Holbrooke asked. 

“The next time I see you all again, I will have broken Wagandea’s curse,” Professor Croix said. 

“Break the curse?” Professor Ursula asked. 

“When Akko finally learns to fly, it won’t look good if her teacher still can’t, right?” Croix asked. 

A person from the Ministry said they had to leave, but before doing so, Croix walked up to Professor Ursula, kissed her on the cheek, and linked their necklaces together. It formed the Shiny Rod. 

“There, now you don’t have to worry about it again,” Croix said. 

“Thank you,” Professor Ursula said. 

Croix walked away with the Ministry into the leyline. 

“Come back soon, I’ll be waiting,” Professor Ursula said as Croix left. 

Meanwhile, back at Luna Nova. Akko was attempting to fly again. She cast **Tia Freyre** , but just like before she didn’t go anywhere, although the broom did sparkle. 

“Big surprise, it didn’t work today either,” Sucy said while playing a game with Constanze. 

Lotte was looking at Nightfall with Barbara but looked over at Akko to give her some encouragement. 

“It looked like it was closer this time Akko,” Lotte said. 

“Really?” Akko asked. 

“Mhm, it’s getting better, little by little,” Lotte said. 

“I don’t know, it looked just as bad as it did the first time to me,” Amanda said. 

“Hey! I thought you guys were here to cheer me on,” Akko said. 

“I only came because you sounded so confident, but I guess today just wasn’t your day. You’ll get it eventually,” Diana said, sipping on tea. 

Akko pouted. 

“Whatever, I really think today’s the day, no, I _know_ it is,” Akko said. 

Professor Ursula, Professor Finnelan, Headmistress Holbrooke, Andrew, and Frank were all walking up behind them. Everybody was now watching as she attempted to fly again. Akko fastened her hat to her head. 

“All right!” Akko said. 

She was about to cast the spell again when Lotte started speaking from behind her. 

“Stay calm and remember, believing in yourself…” 

“Is your magic,” Sucy finished. 

Akko laughed and said yep. Everybody looked in surprise when Akko started hovering above the ground. 

“Akko,” Lotte said. 

Akko looked down confused and noticed that her feet were dangling off the ground. 

“She flew,” Sucy said. 

“All right! I did it,” Akko said. 

Everybody started cheering and laughing. 

“What did I say? You really are full of surprises, aren’t you,” Diana said. 

“Yep! I guess I am,” Akko agreed.

It might’ve taken her the whole year, but here she was flying. The Sorcerer’s Stone in the New Moon Tower glowed bright and the one person no one thought could ever fly proved them all wrong again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that brings us to the end of The Glow of Their Necklaces. Thank you all for reading, feel free to leave a comment telling me how I did and what I can do to improve. Stay tuned for the second book in the "Glow" Series, The Mysterious Glow of a Murderer, starting July 4th.


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